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Parsi treasures up for adoption

Zara Heeramaneck tells Marisha Karwa that she hopes to use donation proceeds to restore some of the 19th century porcelain antiques at Mumbai's only Parsi heritage museum

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Zara Heeramaneck; Two antique Chinese porcelain jars
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By her own admission, Zara Heeramaneck was unaware of the Parsi community’s treasures gathering dust in a room at the Khareghat Parsi Colony in south Mumbai’s Kemps Corner neighbourhood. And when she did realise there was a museum – the only Parsi heritage museum in the city at that – steps away from her own home, the knowledge that there were no funds to keep it running kept gnawing her mind.

“At first I didn’t think I’d be able to do anything,” says the high school student. “But when I dwelled upon it, I thought that perhaps I could do something on a small scale.”

And so she came up with the idea of restoring 25 antique Chinese porcelain pieces from the museum’s collection of hundreds after generating funds from enthusiasts who’d be willing to “adopt” these antiques, originally made for the export market. With some help and support from the museum’s caretaker Nivedita Mehta, her antique dealer father Mehernosh Heeramaneck and community stalwarts Firoza Panthaki and Pheroza Godrej, she reached out to the Bombay Parsi Punchayet, responsible for the museum’s management, for due approvals. She then decided on the adoption amounts, capping it at Rs15,000, and designed a brochure to spread the word.

“I didn’t use social media because I was targeting people who understood culture and who would be able to donate money. Typically, these are people in their 40s to 60s,” rattles off the grade 12 student of BD Somani International School. “Since the initiative requires people to give money, which they wouldn’t if they didn’t understand the cause, I initially went and met some people from the community. That’s how word began to spread.”

Heeramaneck was sceptical. “Since this was a school student's project, I didn’t think it would get much of a response.” She could not have been more wrong. Between 25-30 people, Parsis and non-Parsis included, have already pledged to adopt some of the antiques, and Heeramaneck has managed to collect Rs4 lakh.

“Of this, Rs40,000 has been spent on restoring one porcelain umbrella stand,” says Heeramaneck, adding that the restoration was done by conservationist-restorer Edul Fanibunda. “Once all the 25 pieces are restored, they will be packed and kept safely till we have collected enough money to bring back the museum to life.”

For now though, the Alpaiwalla Museum, awaiting funds for restoration, is shut as it has been for several years. “It is my dream to accumulate enough funds, not just for the restoration but to start the museum again,” signs off the teenager.

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