THE FOUNDATION CELEBRATES 'THE IDEA OF INDIA'

 THE FOUNDATION CELEBRATES 'THE IDEA OF INDIA'

Rahul Bose & his NGO in partnership with Standard Chartered Bank hosted the auction 16 iconic pieces of memorabilia from the 16 greatest Indians in their fields 

February 22, 2014, a date etched in the memory of Mumbai forever by The Foundation, the NGO founded by actor Rahul Bose as an unforgettable celebration of India’s glory - “The Idea of India'. It was an auction of iconic memorabilia donated by 16 legendary Indians who with both, their genius and their generosity uphold the ideals that nest within the idea of India - Indians, who with their talent, intellect and world view, making every Indian proud.

The main auction, a black tie sit down evening, was preceded by cocktails and an elaborate red carpet which saw legends along with some of Mumbai’s glitterati. The iconic donors from JAVED AKHTAR, SHABANA AZMI, ABHINAV BINDRA, CHARLES CORREA, AMITAV GHOSH, USTAD AMJAD ALI KHAN, R K LAXMAN and RAGHU RAI were among the first to arrive. Legendary cartoonist RK Laxman made a rare appearance with his wife and Ustad Amjad Ali Khan came in supported by his wife and son Amaan Ali Khan.

Other well known guests and friends of Rahul who came out to support him included Gautam Singhania, Ronnie Screwvala and his wife Zarina Mehta, photographers Sumeet Chopra and Atul Kasbekar, actor Nandita Das, Sangeeta Jindal, Ayaz Memon, Tanaz Doshi, Harshwardhan Goenka, Indu and Ranjit Shahni, Queenie Singh, Nandini Sardesai, Deveika and Suresh Bhojwani and auctioneer Mallika Advani among many others. Rahul’s sister Anuradha Ansari was also present supporting her brother with her daughter Aliya.

The auction, unlike anything else the city has ever witnessed, created quite an intrigue with the bidders both in the room and absentees as it was a rare amalgamation of every aspect of India and all her glory. Shabana Azmi gave a moving opening speech soon after Rahul’s welcome address. It was what set the tone for the evening and encouraged bidders to make larger contributions to a worthy cause. Mallika Advani conducted the auction taking every bidder through each lot with a special story behind each narrated by Rahul. One of the most outstanding moments of the evening was Javed Akhtar bidding for and becoming the lucky owner of RK Laxman’s piece - HAND DRAWN ORIGINALS - ‘SIX DECADES OF THE COMMON MAN’

The main proceedings of the auction were followed by an informative audio visual of the incredible work done by The Foundation for children across the country from Andamans, Kashmir and now Manipur. The auction alone raised INR 1.74 cr in support of The Foundation.

Speaking on the occasion the founder of The Foundation, Rahul Bose says, “The Idea of India auction was to reinforce the idea of India being an inclusive secular democratic land. The response to this evening reaffirms the fact that Indians want nothing more than to uphold the ideals.”

The pieces that were up for auction this year were: 

1	JAVED AKHTAR	HAND WRITTEN POEMS: MUZTAR KHAIRABADI, JAN NISAR AKHTAR, JAVED AKHTAR, ZOYA AND FARHAN AKHTAR
2	SHABANA AZMI	GOLD MEDAL - ‘BEST STUDENT IN ACTING’, FTII, 1973
3	ABHINAV BINDRA	OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL WINNING RIFLE, BEIJING, 2008
4	CHARLES CORREA	KANCHENJUNGA - SECTION, ELEVATION, PERSPECTIVE 1973-82
5	AMITAV GHOSH	‘THE HUNGRY TIDE’. COLLABORATION: AMITAV GHOSH (HANDWRITTEN PASSAGES) DAYANITA SINGH (PHOTOGRAPH)
6	SUBODH GUPTA	SPECIAL PIECE OF ART CREATED ESPECIALLY FOR THE FOUNDATION AND THE IDEA OF INDIA
7	ZAKIR HUSSAIN	TABLAS : USTAD ALLAH RAKHA USTAD ZAKIR HUSSAIN
8	USTAD AMJAD ALI KHAN	AUTOGRAPHED SAROD (1990-2013)
9	AAMIR KHAN	AUTOGRAPHED BUNDI ‘LAGAAN’ (2001)
10	R K LAXMAN	HAND DRAWN ORIGINALS ‘SIX DECADES OF THE COMMON MAN’
11	ZUBIN MEHTA	AUTOGRAPHED BATON
12	LEANDER PAES	AUTOGRAPHED RACQUET GRAND SLAM NO 14, US OPEN 2013
13	RAGHU RAI	MOTHER TERESA IN PRAYER, KOLKATA, 1995, EDITION 7/10 BABY DONKEY, HARYANA, 1965, EDITION 2/10
14	AMARTYA SEN	‘THE ARGUMENTATIVE INDIAN’ - ANNOTATED SPEECH AUTOGRAPHED EDITION - ‘IDENTITY AND VIOLENCE’
15	VIKRAM SETH	HANDWRITTEN SONNETS 1.1 & 13.52 : ‘THE GOLDEN GATE’ - AUTOGRAPHED EDITION
16	DAYANITA SINGH	IN CONVERSATION DSAGRB 2013