KOLKATA: Among the collections at Birla Industrial & Technological Museum (BITM) is a 1925 Fiat Tipo 103 that was used by scientist Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose and a 1926 Rolls Royce Phantom I that belonged to Sir James Lindsay, the last British MD of Metal Box Co. While the first car came to BITM through the sheer perseverance of Saroj Ghose, the man who led the science centre movement in the country, the second one was a surprise gift that Ghose received after he had given up hope of adding a Rolls to the collection.
Finding artefacts for BITM, the country’s first science museum set up in 1959, was difficult, given that India was not a participant in the industrial revolution. So when Ghose read in a Bengali daily in 1969 about AJC Bose’s car lying in disrepair at his Upper Circular Road home, Ghose met Bose’s, nephew Debendra Mohan Bose, and offered to restore the car and preserve it at BITM. The proposal was met with a rebuke. “Do you think I cannot take care of the car? Banish such thoughts,” Bose told Ghose.
But Ghose did not give up. He called up Bose every week, exchanged pleasantries and gently reminded him of the offer. Pursued for several weeks, Bose asked Ghose where he would keep the car if he agreed. “I sensed a softening of stance and invited him to BITM and showed him the transport gallery. He liked it and the car was ours. Bose was pleased to see the way it was showcased,” Ghose said.
The museum had unexpectedly added a Rolls Royce to its collection before the Fiat had rolled in. It was a newspaper ad in 1965 that had caught Ghose’s eyes. The Darbhanga Maharaja’s fleet of Rolls Royce was being auctioned at Walford Garage on Park Street. Ghose was tempted to add one to the museum’s inventory. But being a government institution, purchases had to be made through tenders. A meeting of the executive council was called and Ghose was empowered to bid for a Rolls Royce at an auction with the maximum bid price set at Rs 5,000. When the auction began, Ghose was gutted. The reserve price for each car was Rs 50,000. Within a couple of hours, all cars were sold, the crowd dispersed and Ghose sat crestfallen. Just then, a tall Englishman tapped on his shoulders. “Tell me young man, did you come here to buy a Rolls?” he said. Ghose, quite aware he didn’t look like one who could afford a Rolls, explained it was for the museum. “You will get one,” the Englishman said and left. Ghose later learnt he was Sir Lindsay.
A couple of days later, the guard at BITM informed him a white man was looking for him. As ge stpped out, Ghose found a Rolls parked in the portico. Inside was the same gentleman he met at the auction. Bare-bodied and clad only in shorts, Sir Lindsay handed Ghose the key. “This is the key to your car. The transfer documents will reach you in a couple of days,” he told a stunned Ghose before leaving in another car. Sir Lindsay had decided to donate the Rolls Royce to BITM instead of selling it before leaving for England.
