Play and platter

Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata was resurrected at the Adenwalla Baug on the evening of February 11, 2006 when Dina Mehta’s play Mahatma J. N. Tata based on R. M. Lala’s admirably researched biography For The Love Of India was enacted by members of the Indo-International group Indus and directed by Kamalini Parpia.

At the play reading (from left) Penelope Shrivas­tava, Veena Sin­­ghal, Jinx Akerker, Bachoo Rao and Kamalini Parpia

What inspired the intrepid Jamsetji to birth institutions – India’s first steel plant, her first hydraulic project, her first institute of advanced learning and her first palatial hotel — to put the country in step with other progressive nations of the world? Did he share Mahatma Gandhi’s commitment for the upliftment of the poor? To determine the answers Mehta evolved a simple strategy: to see Jamsetji through the eyes of those who worked with him to translate his dynamic dreams into reality, while a narrator commented on their efforts, rather like the chorus in a Greek play.

Having discovered Jamsetji’s psyche was a cause for celebration so after the play the gathering joined in the traditional Parsi bhonu (meal) served on plantain leaves.