Eulogy for Ebrahim Alkazi : The Doyen of Indian Theatre.

A nonagenarian, father of modern Indian theatre, whose monumental retrospective exhibition, ‘The Theatre of E. Alkazi : A Modernist Approach to Indian Theatre’ was organised at the NGMA Mumbai during September-October 2016, a reputed artist and art connoisseur, the creative genius in theatre, one of the founding Directors of the National School of Drama, the position of which he distinguishably occupied for 15 long years, winner of all the three coveted Padma Awards - Padma Vibhushan (2010), Padma Bhushan (1991) and Padma Shri (1966), passed away on Tuesday, 4th August, 2020,  in Delhi. He was 95 years old. Alkazi suffered a massive heart attack and died at 2.45 PM. He was admitted to the Escorts hospital the day before for age related ailments. Alkazi will ever be remembered for his outstanding contributions to the field of theatre including his contributions to the National School of Drama of which he was the Director for 15 long years. As director of NSD, he shaped the course for modern Indian theatre, establishing links between traditional vocabulary and modern idiom. Alkazi will be remembered as a towering theatre giant who was associated with training and mentoring some of the best known theatre artists and talents in the country, including Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Uttara Baokar, Rohini Hattangadi, Pankaj Kapoor besides a host of other major theatre directors in the country. He was an outstanding creative genius in theatre. Some of the major plays, which he  directed include "Tuglaq" (Girish Karnad), "Ashadh Ka Ek Din" (Mohan Rakesh), Dharamvir Bharti's "Andha Yug" besides several other Greek tragedies and Shakespeare's works.

It was a great honour for me that his retrospective monumental exhibition, on his theatre creativity, was organised at the NGMA, Mumbai while I was the Director of NGMA Mumbai. The exhibition was inaugurated on 9th September, 2016,  by HIs Excellency Saud-Al-Sati, the Ambassador of Kingdom of Soudi Arabia to India, in the August presence of noted Ad. film maker and theatre veteran Alyque Padamsee, and veteran theatre and film Director Vijaya Mehta, who was the student of Alkazi at the NSD. Also present on the occasion was Alkazi’s daughter Ms Amal Allana, theatre director, costume designer and former Chairperson National School of Drama, and her eminent theatre designer husband, Nissar Allana, eminent artist and Chairman NGMA Advisory Committee, Mr Suhas Bahulkar and several other distinguished guests including some of the eminent students of Alkazi from the NSD  and other distinguished guests. The exhibition (9th September - 18th October, 2016) was a fitting tribute to Ebrahim Alkazi’s life and times on the Indian stage, which was presented in the very city - Mumbai - where Alkazi commenced and established his long dramatic innings.

Alkazi was born to a wealthy Saudi Arabian business man, trading in India, and to a Kuwaiti mother, on 18th October 1925 in Pune. He was one among the nine siblings born to his parents. He did his schooling at St. Vincent’s High School, Pune and subsequently moved to Bombay (Mumbai now) and studied at the St. Xavier college. He learnt Arabic, English, Marathi and Gujarati. While studying in St. Xavier College in Mumbai, Alkazi joined Sultan Padamsee's English theatre company, the Theatre Group. He subsequently moved to UK for his training in theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, which he completed in 1947. During his association with RADA he staged more than 50 plays and enjoyed a distinguished career and he also won the BBC Broadcasting Award in 1950. Although he was offered good career opportunities in London after being honored by both the English Drama League and the British Broadcasting Corporation, Alkazi preferred to return back to India to rejoin the Theatre Group, which he ran from 1950 to 1954 in Mumbai. In the very year of his return to India (1947) the rest of his family migrated to Pakistan while Alkazi stayed back in India. 

The Theatre of E. Alkazi — A Modernist Approach to Indian Theatre’, exhibition, which was showcased at NGMA was  a retrospective of the life and works of Alkazi. The driving forces behind this exhibition was his daughter, Amal Allana, a theatre doyen in her own right, and her husband, the stage designer Nissar Allana. The exhibition was planned to conclude on the 91st birthday of Alkazi on the 18th  October, 2016 and Alkazi was to grace the occasion, which unfortunately did not happen due to travel restrictions on Alkazi, who was not keeping well. I had the honour to be present during one of the many curated talks, that Allana conducted during the exhibition in which she shed rare insight into the man - E Alkazi, who single-handedly can be credited with overhauling the National School of Drama into a legitimate national institution, during his long tenure as its director from 1962 to 1977. She also shared insights into the world of Alkazi’s theatre including speaking about his eventful innings in Bombay, where under the aegis of the Theatre Group and the Theatre Unit, Alkazi galvanised the English theatre scene in the city. She also spoke about Alkazis association with the Bombay Progressive Artists including MF Hussain, who painted for his theatre. 

The retrospective exhibition at NGMA Mumbai included some of the rare archival material, which was aesthetically displayed in the majestic semicircular galleries arranged around the central stairwell at the NGMA. The exhibition included Mockups of posters of Alkazi’s celebrated productions, which  adorned the walls of the entrance hall. The Alkazi Times’ panels presented the signposts of Alkazi’s life as news clippings, interspersed with actual microfiche footage — ascensions of kings and Prime Ministers, declarations of war and independence, and even snapshots from theatre history. The exhibition was monumental in scale, filled with information about Alkazi’s genealogy, childhood, education and his illustrious career. Although Alkazi settled in Delhi, he started his creative career in theatre in Mumbai. The exhibition presented how Alkazi was destined to take up the reins of Theatre Group after the untimely passing of Sultan ‘Bobby’ Padamsee, the young genius, who had great influence on Alkazi.

Alkazi brought about revolutionary changes in Indian theatre and he was able to beautifully blend native Indian folk traditions and international acting techniques to create modern Indian theatre. He was also credited with the introduction of revolutionary ideas in theatre through scenic design and lighting. Alkazi is believed to have been a strict disciplinarian at the NSD who evolved new training methodologies for student actors, directors and stage designers. He introduced new ethics and philosophy in theatre. Until the arrival of Alkazi on the Indian theatre scene there was hardly any importance for the theatre settings in the plays. He laid extraordinary emphasis on the setting for theatre, which subsequently became integral to modern Indian theatre.  Alkazi believed that theatre was not just about the performer. He stressed on the importance of other aspects of the theatre, namely the set design, lighting, costume design and music, which he said were as integral to a play as was the actor. 

Alkazi has lived his life and has left behind an indelible Mark and the internationally acclaimed NSD will continue to perpetuate his contributions. Long live Ebrahim Alkazi. Rest in Peace.

The Perfect Ten : Jim Laker, Anil Kumble, AK 74 & Richard Stokes.

Images : courtesy Nehru Science Centre exhibition catalog.

Compulsively obsessed and crazy that most of us are for the game of cricket - gentleman’s game (apologies to the women who deservingly are now a part of this club), I am certain that most of my friends will immediately identify an inextricable relationship between Jim Laker, Anil Kumble and The Perfect Ten. But then why have I included other two terms - AK 74 and Richard Stokes -  in the title of my blog, which apparently appears to be incongruous in the company of Kumble, Laker and Perfect Ten? Can any of you make a guess? For those who can and for those who can’t, I hope this post will be of interest to you all, more so because one of the video clips, which has gone viral on WhatsApp on 31st July, is the highlights of the cricket test match in which Jim Laker created history by becoming the first man in the annals of history of cricket to take all the ten wickets in an test innings and the only man to take 19 wickets in a cricket match in any form of cricket. He achieved this unique feat on 31st July 1956 while playing against their arch rivals Australia. To commemorate this historic occasion a video highlights of Laker taking all ten wickets has gone viral and I too received this video clip from more than one group on my WhatsApp. Our very own Anil Kumble -  the Jumbo - is in the August company of Jim Laker having taken a perfect ten in an innings in the cricket test match. Equally significant is the opponents against whom they have achieved this unique honour. Laker did it against their arch rivals, the Australians and Kumble achieved it against our arch rivals - the Pakistanis. 

During the 140 plus years of long cricketing history there have been extraordinary moments that have been played out on the cricketing field, which indelibly etched in the annals of cricketing history and in memories of cricket loving audience. The Perfect Ten wickets that Anil Kumble and Jim Laker achieved in their respective test match innings will definitely be on top of those cricketing moments. During the ‘Cricket Connects : India - England Cricket Relations’, exhibition, which I had the honour to curate commemorating the seventieth year of Indian Independence, one of the eleven sections of the exhibition was titled ‘Hits and Misses’. This section covered those extraordinary hit and miss moments in history of Cricket relationship between India and England and one of the hits included in the section is the perfect ten common connect that Anil Kumble and Jim Laker share. The section also covered some of the infamous incidents (misses) between the two teams. The exhibition and the accompanying richly illustrated exhibition catalog, captures these hits and misses cricketing moments that the two countries - India and England - share as a common connect. 

Jim Laker was the first player in the annals of cricketing history to take all 10 wickets in a Test match innings. He achieved this remarkable feat, while playing against their arch rival Australia, in the second Australian innings of thr fourth Test match that was played at Old Trafford, during the Ashes series in 1956. Laker returned with a magical and unachievable match figures of 19 wickets for a paltry 90 runs (9 for 37 in the first innings and 10 for 53 in the second). England won the Test  match by an innings and 170 runs, with just over an hour to spare and retained the Ashes cup. This memorable game will always be known as Laker's Match.

The Old Trafford Test match was full of drama and will continue to be recognised as one of the most exciting yet controversial matches for a long time. The controversy arose over the preparation of the pitch and for days’ cricketers, officials, critics and the general cricketing public could talk of little else than this game and the pitch. The culmination of the excitement was when Laker successfully appealed for a LBW decision against Len Maddocks. Moments later the match was over and Laker had taken all the ten wickets in an innings. Maddocks, who with Laker entered the cricketing history, was livid about the pitch and his post match statement sums up the frustration that he and his teammates had on the nature of the pitch, which the curator of the Old Trafford had prepared for the match. He said ‘Bradman wouldn’t have lasted on that pitch”. 

Tension had mounted as Laker captured his eighth and ninth wickets. Time was ticking by and rain had all but ruined the match. The only wish in the minds of the English players was victory and retention of the Ashes and no one ever bothered who took the wickets to earn them the coveted victory. The question of giving Laker his tenth wicket, to go down in history as the first man to do so,  was never on the minds of England players since time was ticking by and rain had all but washed out the Test Match to end in draw. Destiny had other plans for England and Laker. With just one wicket standing between England and Australia and rain almost a certainty, the bowler entrusted to bowl from the other end was Lakers spin partner Lock, who repeatedly kept beating the bat, fortunately for Laker it was not Lock’s day. The momentous occasion came at twenty-seven minutes past five when Laker scalped the last Australian wicket of Len Maddocks and ended up with a perfect 10 in an innings to spin Australia to an innings defeat to win the Test and series for England. Laker had earned his triumph by remarkable control of length and spin. The significance of this historic feat can be seen in the statement of the legendary Don Bradman, who said ‘it was a feat unlikely to be equalled’ and it continues to be so. But while those 19 wickets and Lakers perfect 10 are still remembered, what has largely been forgotten is that it was the dusty and controversial Manchester pitch, which commanded almost as much attention during and immediately after the game.

Kumble’s Jumbo Feat.

Jim Lakers unique feat of a perfect ten was repeated 43 years later by the Indian spinner Anil Kumble. It was on February 7, 1999 that Kumble achieved the ‘Jumbo’ feat of scalping all 10 wickets in an innings against their arch rivals Pakistan at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground in New Delhi. The leg-spinner’s figures of 10 for 74 were instrumental in India’s 212-run win over their arch rivals. Kumble had single-handedly crushed the Pakistanis. This was the time when terrorism was reigning in the Kashmir valley and Pakistani sponsored terrorists and their arsenal AK-47 used to hog national headlines. The AK-47 is a compact automatic rifle, which Stalin’s engineers clandestinely unveiled in 1947. This gun, with the fall of the erstwhile USSR, reached the hands of most terrorists. Dubbed the Avtomat Kalashnikova-47, AK-47, it became the amoral massacre machine in the hands of the terrorists across the globe and more particularly in Kashmir. The decade of 90s was a period when Kashmiri terrorists wielding AK 47 and killing innocents had hogged headlines all across Indian media. Knowing well the connect that this deadly, Pakistan sponsored AK - 47, weapon had on the minds of the Indian audience, the Indian Express disrupted this term imaginatively to herald the momentous achievement of Kumble, which they  captured in their newspaper with a headline ‘AK-74 : Kumble guns down Pakistanis’ referring to Anil Kumble’s dismissals of all ten wickets of the Pakistani players for 74 runs. Referring to this occasion Kumble later said ‘A 'Perfect Ten' isn't something you set out to achieve as a cricketer. I would attribute the events of 7th February 1999 to destiny’. 

Incredibly there was one man who was witness to both these feats -  Richard Stokes. He witnessed both these incidents on the cricket ground. He was 10 years old when he went to watch the 1956 Ashes Test at Old Trafford with his father. Stokes, a die hard cricket fan, recalled that he had witnessed Jim Laker becoming the first man to take all 10 wickets in a Test match at the Old Trafford in 1956. Coincidentally Stokes was on a business trip to New Delhi from Germany where he was working and on knowing that a cricket match is going on between India and Pakistan, he preferred to take a break from his business and went to watch the cricket match on 7th Feb 1999. Incidentally it was also his birthday and therefore he wanted a break from his work. As luck would have it he gave himself a unique birthday gift for he had watched both the feats of Laker and Kumble from the cricket ground create history of taking perfect 10.

Kumble, unlike Laker, was supported by his team mates in his achievement of a perfect 10. Sachin (Tendulkar), who is often known to be a believer of some kind of a superstitious thinking on ground, did his bit to turn things around. He started handing Kumble’s cap and sweater to the umpire at the start of an over, in an attempt to 'bring Kumble luck’ and it worked and it so happened that whenever he did that, a wicket fell. The floodgates opened with Afridi's dismissal. When Kumble got the first 8 wickets in fairly quick succession, post a century opening stand by the Pakistani opening pair, the teammates strategized to grab all ten for Kumble and provide him an opportunity to enter in the elite club of Laker. Javagal Srinath was bowling at the other end when the ninth wicket fell, He bowled wide of the stumps with a clear strategy not to take a wicket. Waqar Younis, the last man, went for a heave in that over, and skied the ball in the long-leg region. The ball was going straight into the hands of Sadagoppan Ramesh, but Srinath and his team mates yelled Ramesh not to go for the catch and it was Srinath - the bowler – who shouted the loudest. Kumble finished off the innings from the other end by taking the tenth wicket of Wasim Akram, caught by Laxman to herald a celebration. 

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114 Year old Steam Waggon, Restored to its Pristine Elegance.

114 Year old Steam Waggon, Restored to its Pristine Elegance.

All of our esteemed visitors, who have visited the Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai will recollect seeing the 114 year old Steam Waggon / Lorry, artefact, which is displayed in the science park of the centre. Unfortunately, you may have noticed that this Steam Waggon was not in good condition due to its ageing and wear and tear because of the sultry and humid climatic conditions in Mumbai. We had received feedback from many of our visitors asking us to try and restore our precious artefacts. Fortunately the Covid 19 challenge, which has compelled all museums including our science museum to be closed for visitors, has given us an opportunity to take up restoration of our precious locomotive collections during this lockdown period. I am extremely happy to present the outcome of our restoration of the Steam Lorry. We have also completed the restoration of another artefact the Horse Drawn Carriage and we will be taking up restoration of other locomotive artefacts one at a time and hope to complete the restoration of all the outdoor artefacts by March 2021. I would appeal to all our esteemed visitors to please visit the science centre as soon as the lockdown is lifted for seeing this newly restored Steam Lorry, which was gifted to our centre by Mazagaon Dock Ltd and commissioned at our park on 10th January 1980.

The open air Science Park of the Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai, was a trendsetter for the science museum movement in India. The first two Government science museums in the country, which preceded the Nehru Science Centre (NSCM in India, were the Birla Science and Technology Museum in Kolkata and the Visvesvaraya Industrial Technology Museum in Bangalore, both of which did not have an open air Science Park, which is one of the major attraction of the NSCM. Incidentally the science park in Mumbai spread across six acres of land, was inaugurated on 22nd December 1979, six years before the NSCM was formally dedicated to the nation - on 10th November 1985 - by the then Prime Minister of India, Shri Rajiv Gandhi. The science park of NSCM is the first such science park in India and  most likely it is also the world’s first science park, which has inspired other science centres in US to adopt this unique concept. Incidentally the UNESCO recognised this new concept as an unique informal science learning ambience. The science park has several hands on outdoor science exhibits demonstrating different principles of science and adding to the attraction of the science park are the vintage locomotive vehicles (precious artefacts) of yesteryears - the Railway locomotive engines (steam and electric) Horse drawn Car carriage, Tramcar, HAL HF 24 Marut Fighter aircraft and the Steam Waggon. These precious historic artefacts were acquired by the centre from different sources in India and the Steam Waggon, the topic of my blogpost today, was purchased by the Mazagaon Dockyard Ltd (MDL) for transportation of goods from the Sentinel Company, UK in 1906 which after serving for more than half decade was donated by MDL to NSCM in 1980. Incidentally the MDL donated two such Steam Waggon  to NSCM,  which arrived at the science park on 10th January 1980 and one of the Waggon which then transferred to our sister unit VITM, Bangalore.

It has been more than four decades since one the Steam Waggon donated by MDL to NSCM was commissioned for public display in the open air science park in NSCM, yet it continues to attract visitors, who routinely are seen posing for a photograph in front of the steam lorry (Waggon). Not just the steam lorry even the other locomotive artefacts have fascinated and are continuing to attract visitors, particularly young children who visit the NSCM in large numbers. Most unfortunately these outdoor artefacts, notwithstanding the best efforts taken by NSCM to avoid corrosion and damage due to unwelcome environmental conditions of humidity in Mumbai, have been damaged and over the years the damage has been quite severe. NSCM is among the very few museums in the country, which remains open to the public all days of the year, except on two days - Holi has Deepavali. Visitors to our museum, despite our best efforts to keep them away from physically touching the precious artefacts, have engaged themselves in touching these precious artefacts. Unlike the art and archeology museums, the science museums in India have been designed with an objective of engaging the visitors with hands on models and exhibits, which they can touch, interact and play and learn science in an informal non coercive ambience. Unfortunately or fortunately this welcoming and non coercive approach of NSCM, though has helped countless children and adults to learn and be attracted to science, has been counterproductive when it comes to preserving our artefacts In the science park.  Visitors in large numbers actively engage themselves with science park exhibits like swing ( scientific swings with with different time periods) etc. and this engagement unfortunately stretches on to the locomotive artefacts as well. But then since majority of the visitors to NSCM are children the science centre has never been strict and coercive when it comes to enforcing the discipline of not to touch the precious locomotive artefacts. Therefore, over a span of four plus decades the climatic conditions of Mumbai and visitors handling of the artefacts has led to substantial damage and wear and tear on the artefacts. 

The Covid 19 pandemic, which is plaguing the world with India counting for 9 lac plus confirmed Covid cases ( fortunately we are doing very well with recovery rate in excess of 60% and fatality less than 3%) has disrupted the global society and this disruption has badly hit museums across the world. In the four plus decades history of NSCM, it is for the first time that our museum has remained closed to the public for more than four long months.  Fortunately, even during this lockdown period we have been able to establish an extraordinary online connect with our audience through a plethora of well conceived and curated programmes, activities and content. For example the live annular eclipse program that we live streamed on our social media has been seen by more than three hundred thousand plus audience from across the world. Similarly most of our other online activities have been receiving an extraordinary response. The Covid challenge has also provided us an opportunity, notwithstanding the financial crisis that we are facing, to try and restore some of our precious artefacts during this lockdown period. During this period we have already completed the restoration of the Horse Drawn Carriage and also the Steam Lorry(Waggon). We have taken up the restoration of the electric locomotive which we hope to complete in the next couple of months and we re also aiming to restoring other locomotive artefacts as well, which we hope to complete during this financial year.

The historically significant Steam lorry also called the Steam Waggon ( note the spelling of Waggon not wagon) artefact, was purchased by MDL from England in 1906 and was used by MDL until the late 1950s when it became obsolete, In the early 1970s the work for the development of the Science Centre in Mumbai commenced and the first phase of the project was the opening of a Science Park on 22nd December 1979. By then the officials of NSCM had managed to convince the authorities of MDL to donate two of these precious Steam Lorries to NSCM, one of which was to be sent to Visvesvaraya Museum Bangalore. Immediately after the opening of the Science Park two of the Steam Lorries were collected from MDL and were brought to the Science Park campus in worli on 10th January 1980. One of the Steam Lorries great in colour was commissioned at Science park in Mumbai and the second one was transported to Bangalore Museum and this has been commissioned inside the Engines Hall in the main building in Visvesvaraya Museum, Bangalore. MDL, which donated these artefacts to us, is the oldest ship building company in India. The history of the MDL company and the shipbuilding yard, dates back to 1774, when a small dry dock was constructed in Mazagon by the two Williams - William Mackinnon and William Mackenzie, founders of the British India Steam Navigation Company. In the year 1906 two Steam Lorries were purchased by this company from Sentinel from UK, for transport of goods to the dockyard and back. 

In 1914, the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company took over the ship operations at the dock from the British India Steam Navigation Company. This company was later registered as a public company in 1934. By then the steam lorries which were purchased earlier were in active use for transporting ship building materials. One of this Steam Lorries also called as Steam Waggon is now on display at the science park in our campus in NSCM. In the modern world of fast paced transportation that is primarily propelled by combustion engines, gas turbines and nuclear reactors, the steam engine transports may seem like a dinosaur relic of the past. But then without this game-changing historic invention of the steam engines, the modern world of transportation would never have advanced to this stage and perhaps the world of transportation may not have reached the current stage where the next generation Elon Musk envisaged Hyper-loop public transport now appears to be a reality sooner than later. Arguably we are now headed towards what is called the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’, which is destined to be governed by intelligent machines that have been engineered to think using quintessential Artificial Intelligence, which will drive future public transports like the Hyper-loop. A look back in history reveals that the prime mover for the shaping of the Industrial Revolution ( also dubbed as technology revolution) was the invention of the Steam Engine, which was the most important development of the Industrial Revolution that facilitated major advancements in the fields of mining, manufacturing, agriculture and most importantly transportation. The invention of the steam engine, which primarily moved the Steam lorry, not only shaped the Industrial Revolution but it also helped in bringing about rapid social and technological change that has shaped today’s world. Industrial Revolution was a period of great innovation and many of the machines and tools that we see today have been shaped by the inventions which happened during the Industrial Revolution. 

The invention of the steam engine would eventually lead to the revolution in road, sea and rail transportation around the globe. Steam Locomotive transportation allowed large-scale movement of resources and people over long distances. Previously the industry relied on man -and animal-powered wagons and carts for transportation and the ushering of the steam engine changed this forever and brought world a lot closer. The use of steam locomotives became quite common all over Europe. The steam engines were also most commonly used in other jobs like mining and agriculture. The genesis for the invention of the steam engine may go to  several prominent figures of the 18th and 19th centuries, who are credited with developing and improving the steam engine, however it was primarily the work of  British (Scottish) engineer James Watt, who deserves major credit for the invention of his wonder machine -  the Steam Engine -, which heralded new muscle power to the machines paving the way for the first Industrial Revolution. 

When James Watt (1736-1819) invented and created the first reliable steam engine in 1775, his invention would literally change the world. Watson’s invention of the steam engine relegated the older, less efficient models, like the Newcomen Engine to history and most of these machines were replaced by the more efficient Watson Steam Engine.  James Watson’s innovation, of adding a separate condenser, significantly improved steam engine efficiency, especially latent heat losses. Increased efficiency helped Watson’s new engine to instantly become very popular and ended up replacing all old Newcomen Engines that were installed in mines and factories across the world. The Watson’s Steam Engine served as one of the greatest inventions of the Industrial Revolution. Watson integrated a crankshaft and gears in his steam engine design, which became the prototype for all modern steam engines. The efficacy of the steam engine was so profound that it eventually led to incredible improvements in almost all industries, primarily the textile industry, across the world. Steam engines would also lead to the development of transport locomotives, which gained massive leap forward particularly in ship propulsion. 

The massive success of the steam engine in mining industry paved way for its utility in the transportation and this eventually shaped a revolution in transportation around the globe. Locomotives allowed large-scale movement of resources and people over long distances. Previously the industry relied on man -and animal-powered wagons and carts for transportation of men and materials. While several prominent figures of the 18th and 19th centuries are credited with developing and improving the steam engine, it was primarily the work of James Watt, who is credited with the invention of the Steam Engine -, which heralded new muscle power. Although the credit for the invention of the Steam Engine goes deservingly to James Watt, however, the history of steam-powered machines goes back to the early first century AD, almost 1800 years before the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. 

Greek inventor named Heron of Alexandria is credited with the design of the world's first aeolipile, or primitive steam turbine during the first century AD. Heron's aeolipile was designed to harvest the power of the steam and demonstrate it in rotating a sphere. Heron envisaged that steam power could be used as a means of propulsion. His experimental system consisted of a hollow sphere, mounted on a pair of tubes. When heated from below by fire, the tubes ‘transported’ steam to the sphere, where it was released through another series of tubes projecting from the sphere's centre. This movement of steam through the device caused the sphere to revolve, thus demonstrating the potential of the steam as a means of propulsion. Heron’s aeolipile can therefore be described as the first known device to transform steam into rotary motion. But it wasn't until the 17th century that attempts were made to harness the power exhibited by Heron's aeolipile for practical applications.

Although the basic concept for harnessing the power of the steam was envisaged much earlier but no substantial progress made until late seventeenth century. Newcomen, an ironmonger at Dartmouth realised that the high cost of using the power of horses to pump out water from the mines can be reduced by introducing a machine, which could do the task of the horse. With his assistant John Calley, a plumber, Newcomen experimented for more than 10 years on a steam pump. The outcome was an engine, which was superior to the  Johan Savery, Pump that were in vogue. Unfortunately since Savery had obtained a broad patent for his pump in 1698, Newcomen could not patent his engine. He therefore joined hands with Savery and entered into a partnership for producing Newcomen engine, the first of which was commissioned in 1712. Newcomen Engine was used extensively in pumping out water from the coal mines, which was earlier carried out by horse. However the arrival of Watson’s Steam Engine in 1776 soon pushed the Newcomen Engine to history and Watson’s steam engine proved to be a very efficient machine, which while improving the efficiency also brought down the cost.

Watson steam engine helped Britain lead the Industrial Revolution, which was impacting the world and the steam engine helped in the development of agricultural machineries, which arrived on British farms in the 1790s. This was followed later by portable and traction engines as well as cable-operated cultivation equipment’s all of which used steam engines. Steam offered the first opportunity to significantly increase farming productivity by replacing horses with engine power, and steam engine sales reached a peak in the 1890s. The supreme efficiency of the steam engine and its reputation for speed helped it to spread its reach beyond agriculture and mining circles, into other areas of the industry from metalworking to textiles and steam engine locomotives for transport. Watson was savvy businessman and pitched and marketed his invention by highlighting the number of horses his engine would replace and in the process a new term was coined for the measurement of power "horsepower" HP for short. The steam engines utility exponentially spread its net onto the transportation. 

One of the first companies to start harvesting the power of Watson’s steam engine in transportation was Alley & MacLellan, which was founded in 1875 in Glasgow by Irishman, Stephen Alley and his Scottish partner John Alexander MacLellan. This company was initially manufacturing valves and compressors for steam engines. Later they diversified into manufacturing steamships. Alley & MacLellan acquired Simpson and Bibby of Horsehay, manufacturer of steam powered road vehicles, in 1903. They then began producing steam road vehicles in 1905 and in 1906 introduced a 5 ton vertical-boiler wagon, which featured a 2-cylinder under type engine and chain drive. The MDL was among the first companies to purchase steam Lorries from Alley and MacLellan company in the very first year of its production - 1906. The demand for the steam wagons started raising exponentially and by 1915 the demand was so high that Alley & McLellan was forced to establish a separate works at Shrewsbury with the name of Sentinel Wagon Works Limited, which was solely dedicated for wagon production. Sentinel Waggon Works Ltd steam wagons were so successful that they remained in production with relatively few updates until the launch of Sentinel's famous Super in 1923. During this period the company was also producing steam railway locomotives and railcars, for railway companies and industrial customers.  Sentinel, along with another company Foden, dominated the steam road transportation market for nearly three decades. M/S Alley and Mclellan continued to be known for their high quality marine steam engines. 

The Steam Lorry or the Steam Waggon, which is displayed in the science park of the NSCM was purchased  from Alley and MacLellan by British India Steam Navigation Company, in the year 1906 and this company later became the Mazagaon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd. This Steam Lorry / Waggon was extensively used mainly to haul ships into the dry-dock and for transportation of materials. This Steam Lorry continued to remain in running condition till 1971, when it participated in a vintage car rally in Bombay. Steam used to be generated at 230 PSI by a vertical water tube coal fired boiler, which passed through a super heater to produce superheated steam at 150 degree Centigrade. Total heating surface in the boiler of the steam lorry was 36.5 Square feet and the grate area is 2.6 sq ft. Load carrying capacity of the wagon is 4 tons and maximum speed of Lorry was around 20 Kilometres per hour (12 Miles per hour). 

Accompanying photographs to this post show the condition of the steam lorry at different times even since it was gifted to the NSCM by MDL in 1980. In a span of four decades during which it was on display at our Centre, the Steam Lorry had deteriorated over time and this can be seen in the images. However during the lockdown period we have managed to restore this precious artefact and it now looks fairly new and has that majestic appeal. I earnestly hope that the lockdown to our Centre is lifted soon and we open our doors to our esteemed audience who will be in a position to see this newly restored precious artefact which is 114 years old.

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Sunny Gavaskar, his 71st Birthday and his 1971 Debut.

    Sunny Gavaskar, his 71st Birthday and his 1971 Debut.

Sunil Gavaskar, celebrated his seventy first birthday on the 10th July this year and his 71st birthday is very special for all those cricket fans of Sunny Gavaskar, particularly my generation cricket crazy Indians, for whom Sunil was and will continue to be the original little master, the crown of which was subsequently taken over by another little master Sachin Tendulkar. 1971 was a watershed year for the Indian Cricket. It was the year when the Indian cricket team achieved two back to back test series victory against the mighty West Indies and England. It was also the year when the original little master, Sunil Gavaskar made that historic debut against the West Indies in West Indies and ever since he continued to remain the darling in the Caribbean. It was here at the Caribbean’s that Sunil Gavaskar made  his debut against the West Indies in the year 1971. Young Sunil Gavaskar, aged 21, stroked his way in this series to a world record of 774 runs in seven innings and that too at a staggering Bradman like average of 154.8. This extraordinary achievement by the debutant Sunny Gavaskar will perhaps continue to be acknowledged as all-time great achievement of any cricketer in the world. 

I was one among those innumerable cricket crazy fans from my generation who eulogised this innings and ever since Gavaskar has always remained my cricketing hero, which in no way will take away the achievements of the little master who followed him - Sachin Tendulkar. In India cricket players are literally placed on a very high pedestal and some of the players are revered as Gods. And for me Sunil Gavaskar was that reverential player, and seeing him play and listening to the cricket commentary when he played cricket is something, which I shall continue to cherish. For us, Indians, seeing cricket players, particularly your cricketing hero at close quarters, is some thing which is rather a dream and that dream came true for me and I got an opportunity not only to see Sunil Gavaskar at close quarters but had an immemorial experience of sharing the Dias with him and sitting next to him and that too at our auditorium. 

With an experience of curating two Cricket Connects exhibitions, one for South Africa and the second for Australia it was but natural to expect that the responsibility for curating another cricket exhibition for England would fall on me and it did. The year 2017 was the seventieth year of our Independence and Cricket exhibition was one of the events to feature in the India - UK year of Culture that was organised by the Ministry of Culture in England. I had the honour to curate this exhibition and this exhibition was opened at the historic Lords and that too in the presence of the entire Indian Cricket team. I also had the honour to conduct a brief curator walk of the exhibition to the Indian players. After successfully hosting this exhibition in three cities in England - London, Birmingham and Edinburgh - the exhibition returned back to India. On its return to India we had the pressure to show this exhibition in our centre and we had to oblige and organise the Cricket exhibition at the science centre, a rarity for us.

One of the sections in this exhibition was the 1971 series and therefore I felt it prudent to try and invite Ajit Wadekar to open this exhibition. Accordingly I prepared a request letter to Ajit Wadekar and along with the exhibition catalog I sent the letter to Wadekar. As a back up I also sent another letter to Dilip Vengsarkar. As luck would have it, Ajit Wadekar was highly impressed with the exhibition catalog that we had sent to him and he immediately sent his confirmation for the opening of the exhibition. We had another happy news that Vengsarkar too accepted our invitation and we delightedly designed our invitation cards and the date was finalised for the opening of the exhibition. Just two days before the opening of the exhibition for which all the invitations had already been distributed, I suddenly get a call from one gentleman who introduced himself as the personal assistant of Sunil Gavaskar. Before I could even think if that was reality or a joke being played on me the gentleman without wasting much of time checked if he was speaking to the Director and on confirmation he immediately informed me that Gavaskar would like to speak to me. Even before I could think if it was a dream or a reality that my cricketing hero Sunil Gavaskar would like to speak to me, Sunil Gavaskar came online. This will remain the most pleasant experience of my life. Sunil in his classy style informed me that he had an opportunity to read through our Cricket exhibition catalog, which was passed on to him by Ajit Wadekar. He was highly appreciative of the exhibition catalog and expressed his wish to be present during the opening of the exhibition. This moment will remain etched in my memory all through my life. Here was my cricketing hero speaking to me on phone and expressing his desire to be present for the opening of the Cricket exhibition. I felt so sorry that our invitations had already been distributed and expressed to him that since there are just two days left it will not be possible to print fresh cards and include his name. Sunil Gavaskar was so very kind to inform me that he was not interested in his name appearing on the card, all he wanted was to see the exhibition. On the appointed time Sunil Gavaskar came along with Dileep Vengsarkar for the opening. He not only opened the exhibition but spent 30 minutes to walk through the exhibition and another 30 minutes in the auditorium and another 30 minutes in our conference room. In all he was with us for 90 long minutes. 

While taking Sunil Gavaskar and Dileep Vengsarkar on a curatorial walk through the exhibition I was in a hurry to bypass one section of the exhibition - Hits and Misses. This section included some Hits and Misses moments in the Cricket history between India and England and one of the misses that I had included in this section was that forgettable innings of Sunil Gavaskar where he had carried his bat through in the 1975 World Cup match scoring just 36. Gavaskar was quick to notice that I was trying to bypass this section and he made me go slow. When I informed him that he may not like what was included in this section, he, having read the exhibition  catalog, took me on his own to this section and explained his infamous innings that he had played in the 1975 World Cup match. Such is his humility. 

In his historic career, Gavaskar played 125 Tests in which he scored 10,122 runs with 34 centuries to his name. He also played 108 ODIs in which he scored 3,093 runs. Gavaskar also had 25,834 runs in first-class career. On his 71st birthday I would like to take you through that historic 1971 debut series of Sunil Gavaskar. 

Ever since India’s debut in test cricket at the Lord's, England, on 25 June 1932, for nearly forty years, India continued to be a weak team in comparison with other Test cricket teams, such as Australia and England. The year 1971 was a watershed year that remains etched in the annals of cricket history in India. It was in that year and under the new captain – Ajit Wadekar – India registered her first-ever away-series victories in the West Indies and England to inject a refreshing self-belief in the Indian cricket, hitherto unseen. The team backed up the two back to back series victories over seas with a series win against England in India a year later thus achieving a remarkable three series wins on the trot.

The West Indies team of 1971 wasn’t their strongest side, yet it consisted of some of the most well known names in international cricket. Roy Fredericks, Rohan Kanhai, Gary Sobers and Clive Lloyd formed the backbone of the West Indies team. India, too, had a number of veterans in their ranks like ML Jaisimha, Salim Durrani, Dilip Sardesai and EAS Prasanna. But the one player who would go on to make a monumental difference to the team India in the years to come was a 21-year-old collegian with no international experience. The youngster – Sunil Gavaskar – made the kind of debut that Test cricket has not seen till this day. The 5 Test series that India played against the West Indies in 1971 is now synonymous with Sunil Ganvaskra’s majestic batting and Sardesai’s rock-like presence at the other end.

India did not field Sunil Gavaskar in the first of the five Tests at Kingston, Jamaica due to injury. Indians made a remarkable beginning to the 5 Test series by enforcing a follow on to the West Indies in this Test, which shocked the conscience of West Indies captain Sobers. The Test though ended in a draw.

The second Test was at Port of Spain, Trinidad and it marked the beginning of one of the greatest Test careers of Sunil Manohar Gavaskar. He walked out to open batting for India for the very first time after Bedi and Prasanna had bowled out the West Indies for 214. Gavaskar laid the foundation of the Indian innings scoring 65, which was strongly cemented by Sardesai (112) and Solkar (55) leading to an Indian score of 357.  India’s chances of winning a historical Test depended a lot on how quickly and cheaply they could get rid of the two left-handers – Clive Lloyd and Gary Sobers.

Durani came into the party and bowled Sobers for duck and, followed it up with the wicket of Lloyd caught by Wadekar. Venkat then ran through the bottom half of the Windies with a five-wicket haul to restrict the home team to 261.  With 124 needed for victory, Gavaskar led the run-chase with 67 not out helping India to achieve that historic win for the Indians.

The next two Test matches at Guyana and Barbados ended in draws in which Gavaskar (116, 117*) Sardesai (150) and Sobers (108*, 178*) helped themselves with plenty of runs. The fifth and the final Test was played at Trinidad. Since it was the last Test of the series, it was to be a six day match. India batted first and scored 360 on the back of Gavaskar’s 124 and Sardesai’s 75. West Indies, intent on winning the match to level the series, which India was leading 1-0, piled on 526 and it was India who had to save this match. Gavaskar then played the most crucial innings of the whole series. He scored a classy 220 out of India’s 427 that too with a severe toothache. West Indies set a target of 262 to win ended on 165 for eight at the end of the sixth day’s play and that meant India had won the five match series 1-0. Gavaskar amassed a mammoth 774 runs in four Tests in this historic series.  

Here is what I covered in the misses section of the Cricket exhibition that I had curated, which I did not want Sunil Gavaskar to see. The inaugural Cricket World Cup, a flagship event of the international cricket calendar, was hosted in 1975 by England, the only nation that was able to organise huge resources to stage an event of such magnitude at that time. The inaugural match of the World Cup - involving the minnows India against the hosts England - witnessed one of the most infamous innings in the international limited overs cricket. It involved Sunil Gavaskar, the first  man to reach 10,000 runs in Tests and the player who had carved out a special name for India. In the inaugural match, the English batsmen made merry and smashed the Indian bowlers to pulp to record the first 300-plus score (334/4) in an ODI. Dennis Amiss (137) notched up the maiden hundred of the big tournament. Chris Old scored the fastest 50, which came off only 30 balls. India made a disastrous debut in the inaugural ODI World Cup. Needing a massive 335 to win in the given 60 overs, India ended their innings disastrously at a leisurely 132 for three after batting the full quota of 60 overs. Gavaskar played one of the slowest ODI knocks, as he carried his bat through the innings to score a slothful 36 not out facing 174 balls and scoring just one boundary.

This infamous innings of Gavaskar can best be seen when juxtaposed with the innings of another player from his own city - Rohit Sharma. Rohit scored a mammoth 264 - the highest ODI international score till date- facing 173 balls, one ball less than what Gavaskar had faced. To be fair to Gavaskar, the inaugural World Cup (the ODI matches) was virtually an experimental tournament, with most cricket lovers and players - all babes in the new format - ignorant of the way to go about things and so was Gavaskar. If there is one thing that Sunil Gavaskar would like to see changed in his otherwise glorious career, it has to be this infamous 36 not out innings against England and while he took me around this section of the exhibition he sportingly narrated this incident to once again prove why he will remain my original cricket hero.

Wishing you a very happy birthday the original little master. 

June 25 an indelible date in the history of Cricket in India

June 25 an indelible date in the history of Cricket in India

Photo credits : Cricket Connects Exhibition catalogue 

This day, the 25th of June, remains eternally etched in the annals of Indian Cricket. It was on this day, way back in 1932 that  India was baptised in to the International Cricket playing its inaugural Test match against the English team and on this very day, in 1983, Kapil Dev’s Devils rewrote history by winning the Prudential World Cup beating the invincible West Indies to lift the coveted World Cup. 

DEV’S DEVILS: 1983 Prudential World Cup

 

There are moments in sporting history that live forever. Indian Cricket Captain Kapil Dev holding aloft the Prudential World Cup in 1983 on the balcony at Lord's in London is one of them. India winning the 1983 World Cup in England, dethroning the mighty West Indies, was nothing short of a miracle. The West Indies team included the crème de la crème of international cricket, men who were larger than life legends, which included the incomparable Vivian Richards, arguably the best batsman in the world, the menacing pace men - Joel Garner, Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding and Andy Roberts and the team was led by the mighty Clive Lloyd.

It was during this tournament that Kapil Dev played one of the best ever innings that the game of cricket has ever witnessed against the unfancied Zimbabwe at Tunbridge Wells. On a cold, cloudy morning, Kapil Dev won the toss and elected to bat. Against the medium pace of Curran and Lawson, the Indian batting crumbled. At 17 for 5, with the specialist batsmen back in the dressing-room, the situation was precarious for India. It was then that Kapil Dev played the most incredible innings of his career and, ultimately, of the World Cup. In a spirit-lifting display of controlled aggression, he hammered an unbeaten 175, the highest individual score in a World Cup match until then and also the first century by an Indian in the tournament. Single-handedly, Kapil had transformed an imminent defeat into an exciting victory.

The spirit of the Indian team can best be seen in the words of Kapil who said after the match against Zimbabwe that ‘he was elated but exhausted after scoring 175 not out. Kapil said that the game almost tore him apart and that he has never been so tired in his life. But then that tiredness was short lived as Indians marched ahead in the tournament.

The Dev's (Kapil Dev) devils produced the most spectacular team performance all through the tournament, despite the unspeakable past record, and were rightfully the true victors of the tournament beating the invincible, mighty West Indies, the tournament favourites and the winners of the previous two World Cup titles in 1975 and 1979, in a low scoring nail- biting cliff--hanger final. It was undoubtedly India's and International cricket's best hour.

 

The inconceivable result of 1983 Prudential World Cup was responsible for the Indian Cricket administrators to embolden their bid for staging rights for the 1987 World Cup, an event that marked the first significant shift in the balance of power in international cricket.  The Reliance Cup hosted jointly by India and Pakistan in 1987, also marked the beginning of the sport going global and attracting several Indian sponsors in to the game, who have continued to dominate most World Cups ever since. It also marked a step in the shifting of the headquarters of the game from Lord's to Eden Gardens, culminating in the election of Jagmohan Dalmiya as the first Asian president of the ICC.

25th June also marks the day of India’s baptism into international cricket. Although the origin of Cricket in India dates back to as early as 1721 - yet - it was not until another 200 plus years (1932) that India was baptised in to the International Cricketing arena. The team selection for India’s maiden test debut tour to England was shrouded in controversy and mystery. Despite all the intrigue over captaincy and team selection, a young Indian side made giant strides by undertaking their first official foreign tour in 1932 to England amidst political tension brewing in India. Mahatma Gandhi was making his defiant journey - famously called the Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha, an act of nonviolent civil disobedience - to produce salt from the sea water in the coastal village of Dandi. Under these circumstances of nationalistic fervour the Bombay Quadrangular was suspended, so it was not possible to gauge performances in this influential tournament to select players for the inaugural test series. 

Some of the prominent players, that included LP Jai, VM Merchant and Champak Mehta, were unavailable because of the Hindu Gymkhana's opposition to the tour in protest against the jailing of Indian political leaders. KS Duleepsinhji, in whose honour the Duleep Trophy is played in India, was prevented by his uncle Ranjitsinhji, who was the chairman of selectors, from participating in the tour.  The Nawab of Pataudi (senior) had also made himself unavailable for the tour, citing short notice although the actual reason was because he had not been offered a position of responsibility. It was therefore suggested that an Englishman playing in India either AL Hosie, CP Johnstone or RB Lagden, should skipper the side, to mollify the inevitable factions within the tour party. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) quickly resolved that the captain would be an Indian.

 

The Maharaja of Patiala, one of the richest patrons of Indian cricket, was first named captain, with Prince Ganshyamsinhji of Limbdi as vice-captain, while the Maharaj Kumar of Vizianagram, was made deputy vice-captain. The tour party was announced on February 4, 1932. Two weeks before the tour, the Maharaja of Patiala withdrew for reasons of fitness, and Vizianagram also withdrew from the team citing poor health and lack of form. On March 15, the choice of captain fell upon the Maharaja of Porbandar, while Jahangir Khan was drafted into the party as a player in place of Vizianagram. He too eventually stepped down in favour of C.K. Nayudu, who captained the team at the only Test at Lord’s on June 25, 1932.

The All-India cricket team that was finally selected to travel to England for the inaugural test match was an extraordinary microcosm of the diversity that constitutes India. Soon after the Indian team  arrived in England, on April 13, 1932, the Evening Standard commented on the socio-political significance of the tour: “No politics, no caste, just cricket. This is the unofficial slogan of the cricket team that has come from India after a lapse of 21 years.... There has never been such a team of contrasts meeting on the common footing of cricket. The 18 players speak eight to ten languages among them (and belong to) four or five different castes.” The team contained six Hindus, five Mohammedans, four Parsees and two Sikhs. The Mohammedans forswear alcohol by religion and most of the others did so by choice. The Sikhs, who would play cricket in turbans, are similarly denied smoking.  The Hindus do not eat beef, and the Mohammedans avoid pork and ham. 

The Indians played 38 matches in all, including 26 first-class fixtures. The team won 9 first-class matches, drew 9 and lost 8. The team's outstanding batsman was the right-handed CK Nayudu, who played in all the first-class matches, scoring 1,618 runs at an average of 40.45. The team also had a fine pair of opening bowlers in Amar Singh (111 wickets in first-class matches at 20.37) and Mohammad Nissar (71 wickets at 18.09).

The Indian team played its first official three day Test against England at the historic Lord’s Cricket Ground during 25-28 June 1932. England won the toss and elected to bat. The Indians shocked the English in the first half-hour itself. The MCC was reduced to a dismal 19-3 by some excellent Indian bowling and fielding. It was an extraordinary start to the match. The Birmingham Post summed up the excellent start that the Indian’s made in their debut match “The All India cricket team has administered a few shocks to the dignity and confidence of England today. If there were among the 24,000 spectators at Lord’s some who imagined that the granting of a Test match by the MCC to the tourists from the Indian empire was merely an amiable concession, then they had a very rude awakening before the close of play....”.  England came out of the initial shock and recovered to beat India in the inaugural test by 158 runs. Notwithstanding the defeat, June 25, 1932, will forever go down in India’s cricket history as a red letter day and 51 years later this very day in 1983, India lifted the World Cup and made this day an indelible day in the history of Indian Cricket.

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