National Centre for the Performing Arts: 1966-1988
General Editor: Dr. Kumud Mehta
Published by the National Centre for the Performing Arts, 1988

For an organisation that has been in existence for more than half a century, the complex facets of its onerous undertakings tend to get obscured by processes perfected and experience accrued over time. Curation, programming, research, education and training, outreach, documentation, maintenance of venues, periodic technical upgrade, art appreciation and audience building, among other moving parts may appear to run like clockwork, but how did they become intrinsic to the work of the National Centre for the Performing Arts? How did the organisation carve out this remit for itself? Where did it all begin and what keeps the centre going? How does it envision the future of the arts in India? How is it shaping that future? The story of the NCPA—the seeds of what it is today and will be in the years to come—has been told in the book, unassumingly titled National Centre for the Performing Arts: 1966-1988. Published 35 years ago, with Dr. Kumud Mehta at the helm as General Editor, the book is a non-fiction Bildungsroman, if you will, of South Asia’s first multi-genre, multi-venue cultural centre.

Much like the NCPA’s archival work in music, dance and theatre—one of its earliest listed objectives—this book is an archive in its own right, comprised of speeches made by personalities of critical significance to a young nation, a foreword by J. R. D. Tata and excerpts from articles by his fellow founder of the NCPA, Dr. Jamshed Bhabha, written with a degree of articulation that also reflected in his vision for a national institute dedicated to the arts.

“…in planning a pioneering institution, it seems to me to be better to ‘think big’ and ‘start small’ rather than ‘think small’ and ‘start small’ and then grow in a haphazard fashion,” wrote Dr. Bhabha in his introduction to the book. True to these words, before the arduous task of reclaiming land from the sea for the multiple venues at Nariman Point could be completed, there came up a microcosm of the centre in the form of a temporary recording studio-cum-theatre, library and rehearsal rooms at 89, Bhulabhai Desai Road, at Breach Candy.

Mr. Tata in his foreword explains why the NCPA could not afford to wait for the completion of the reclamation and the construction of its physical facilities to start its work. This was in “recognition of the pressing need to preserve for posterity and develop India’s rich legacy in the arts, particularly those like music which depend for their survival on performance and oral traditions.” The destinies of the nation and the NCPA often cross paths in the pages of the book where several watersheds in India’s contemporary history make an appearance. The then Chairman of the Tata Group writes further, “The continuance of these traditional master-pupil links was endangered when the old sources of patronage from the princely and feudal classes began to dry up after the abolition of the maharajas and ruling princes in the process of the secular unification of India, and after the introduction of heavy taxation to provide resources for India’s Five-Year Plans of economic development.”

In speeches that complement each other, it is evident why Dr. Bhabha’s dream found unshakeable support in Mr. Tata. The great patriarch of Indian industry was clear that “while we want to build a prosperous society, we do not want it to be merely a materialistic, a consumer society.” Both men recognised the role of the arts in nation-building—“man does not live by bread alone”—but both also possessed the pragmatism to know the demands on public funds in a newly independent country. This was lauded by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in her address at the inauguration of the NCPA’s programme of work at its temporary premises in 1969. “That this whole effort has been a voluntary one is of special significance these days, when there is an almost pathetic dependence on the Government for patronage and support,” she said.

The spirit of ingenuity shines through in milestones of the NCPA’s growth chronicled in the book and particularly so in Dr. Bhabha’s essay, ‘The Problems of Establishing an Innovative Institution’. From convincing potential funders of the intangible value of the arts to seeking government approvals, securing decorative artefacts from donors and the long-winded search for the architect-acoustician duo of Philip Johnson and Cyril Harris who brought to fruition the Tata Theatre which is built for Indian art forms, there is a wealth of anecdotes that point to what Dr. Bhabha believed in and what his chosen successor and present Chairman Mr. Khushroo N. Suntook reminds his colleagues of: “If the cause is good, the means will follow.”

There are quotable quotes, quips and repartees to be found in speeches throughout the book. There is also something to be said about how the language to describe culture, the sense of humour, even the average length of a sentence (shorter today for shorter attention spans) have changed over the decades. The book bears Dr. Mehta’s stamp of erudition and unassuming tone of language; a reminder of the times when adjectives were used with restraint for the most remarkable of performances. “We must be modest in talking about what we do,” one often hears Mr. Suntook say. This book provides necessary context to the thread of continuity.

The establishment of the Litte, Experimental and Godrej theatres and the Piramal Art Gallery are other interesting accounts of how the NCPA came up brick by brick. The specialised reference and music libraries, which have been integral to the NCPA since it was founded, still don’t have a parallel in Mumbai and quite likely, the rest of India too. The mammoth archives, workshops, masterclasses, programmes of scientific research and multidisciplinary international symposiums and exhibitions bridged the oft-perceived chasm between science and art, and the themes they addressed find their due place in the book.

As each theatre suited for the specific needs of an art form was built, its doors were thrown open to artistes, local and international, celebrated and promising; instruments, popular and rare; traditions, classical and folk; creations, unconventional and avant-garde. It is beyond the scope of this column to name the artistes who performed in these theatres from 1969 to 1988 but suffice it to say that nearly every performer of note and those on the path to becoming one found a worthy ally in the organisation.

The book ends with where it all started; an appendix of heartening letters of support the NCPA—which was only a dream in the mid-1960s—received from luminaries in the world of music, dance and theatre, many of whom went on to serve on its first board of advisors.

Several chapters have since been written on the stages and in the offices and conference rooms of the NCPA to further the work of the founders and take the centre to new heights while staying true to its core—presenting quality work. Philosopher C. E. M. Joad’s words quoted in an all-important speech in the book are an earnest reminder of seeking beauty in times rife with drivel, “Good taste is not instinctive but acquired. It grows slowly through the effort to understand what is beyond us, the endeavour to appreciate what we cannot yet understand. It depends on our willingness to be bored with what is good in order that we may become bored with what is bad and so demand something better.”

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