NEW DELHI: He was known as a firebrand barrister but not many would believe that Motilal Nehru was also an impresario who sent a troupe of magicians and performers to Paris in 1900 for a grand exhibition.
Australian author John Zubrzycki, who dedicates a whole chapter to this fascinating facet of Nehru in his new book “Jadoowallahs, Jugglers and Jinns”, says finding his story was truly a fortunate “stroke of serendipity”.
In the tenth chapter of the richly illustrated volume – “Motilal’s Magical Menagerie”, the author describes about a letter written by him to the immigration authorities in Bombay on April 1, 1900.
“I have just learnt that in order to send a party of Indians consisting of performers, musicians, acrobats and artisans to the ensuing Paris Exhibition it is necessary to obtain a permit from the Protector of Emigrants,” the letter reads.
“As I am about to send such a party, I beg to state the necessary particulars for your information,” says the letter written by Nehru to J Walsh, the Protector of Emigrants in Bombay.
The Exposition Universelle or Paris Univeral Exhibition was a world fair held in the French capital from April 14-November 12 in 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate development into the next.
According to Zubrzycki, it was the most ambitious world fair ever staged, and more than 50 million visitors passed through the 108-acre site that spanned both banks of the Seine.
British India and Ceylon pavilion of the grand event was built in an oriental style, reflecting the architecture of the Indian region.
The Sydney-based author, in an interview to PTI, said he chanced upon that rare original letter at the repository of the Maharashtra State Archives housed in Elphinstone College in Bombay.
“The letter was found in the labyrinthine sections of archival records in a file titled ‘Ruling of the Govt of India regarding the Departure from Bombay of a Party of Indian Jugglers and Dancers for Service in Connection with the Exhibit in Paris’,” he said.
The author writes in the book, published by Pan Macmillan India, that Nehru was an “admirer of French culture” and displayed the “same meticulous planning” in sending the troupe to Paris as he did when preparing his briefs as a barrister at the Allahabad High Court. PTI
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