There has to be a way to save the Asiatic Society

Gateway of India. File pic

A news report in this paper on the state of affairs of a beloved landmark in the city must have had a lot of us shake our heads in commiseration. The building of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai is probably the second most recognisable visual of Mumbai after the Gateway of India, thanks to its photogenic facade. Yet, for countless Mumbaikars, the place offers so much more.

Before the pandemic hit, there was not a single day when you would not find people inside poring over its rich offerings. Rare, ancient tomes that contain invaluable information for projects, essays and dissertations, research material for books to come, rare coins, and a vast collection of maps and manuscripts. The library is so possessive of its treasures that it turned down the princely sum of a million pounds back in 1930 in exchange for the rare original manuscript of the Dante's Divine Comedy, a poem written on parchment in the 14th century.

Which makes its current state ironically tragic. Today, the illustrious Society is funded by the central government with an annual grant of R1 crore. This amount, unfortunately, was cut last year to 60 per cent, forcing the already beleaguered Society to cut staff salaries to 45 per cent. While the staffers may be right in expressing their unhappiness at this, the Society itself could do a few things to ensure an alternative revenue flow. One could be offering rare books and manuscripts for adoption, which will ensure their care and upkeep or maybe even organising regular paid tours of the premises.

Large corporates with deep pockets could step up, too. It is pathetic to hear them say that their CSR funds are limited. A healthy society needs history, the present and the future to be in sync. Allowing a rich resource like the Asiatic Society to die would be a crime we would all be responsible for.