One of the oldest keepers of the citys past, the Bombay Local History Society is expanding its digital footprint, starting with a virtual public lecture this week on the plague of 1896
Lime-washers at work on a badly infected house
Last September, this paper had reported that St Xavier’s College had decided to wind up the operations of the Bombay Local History Society (BLHS), the city’s oldest urban history group, after 40 years on its premises. The management cited space and fund constraints, and the fact that the society wasn’t registered. This January, the society was registered under the Bombay Public Trusts Act with seven members in the working committee and has slowly, but steadily adapted itself to the digital world — ensuring that the legacy flagged off by Fr John Correia-Afonso stayed alive.
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In March, and shortly before the lockdown was announced, BLHS debuted on Instagram and Facebook. And with online lectures becoming part of the new normal, this Saturday, it is organising its very own, too. Titled The Coming of the Plague, Bombay c. 1896-1898, the public lecture will be delivered by historian and associate professor of colonial urban history at the University of Leicester, Dr Prashant Kidambi.
Medical officers, Justices of the Peace, disinfecting staff and search parties ready to start work. Pics/C Moss, 1896/Plague visitation, Bombay/Wellcome Library
The session is a synthesis and summary of Dr Kidambi’s research through the years, which delves into the interface between British imperialism and the history of modern South Asia. The bubonic plague proved to be a worthy subject of discussion as it offers lessons for the city grappling with the Coronavirus pandemic today.
Although civic authorities had confirmed the presence of the plague in September 1986, the city continued to be ravaged by the disease through the next decade.
Dr Prashant Kidambi
“Currently, India is still in the early stages of the pandemic so there’s a long way to go. I’ll be focusing on the first two years of the plague. Back then, when the epidemic broke out, people were suspicious of hospitals and the faith in science as a solution wasn’t the case for ordinary people. There are interesting parallels that can be drawn,” Dr Kidambi shares. The UK-based historian adds that he expects an eclectic set of attendees given that it’s his first online lecture and that the content will even intrigue those with no exposure to history.
Sameera Khan, vice president, BLHS, also tells us that the event has generated a huge interest so far. The society will gauge the response from this lecture to come up with new digital events as well as begin work on their celebrated journal, The Bombay Explorer. They will follow a multi-pronged approach to cater to both new members and old ones who might not be as technologically adept. She says, “This is a new experiment for us and it has taken effort. But the future will be easier. We don’t want to lose our old members while we are out to get new ones.”
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