KASTURBHAI LALBHAI MUSEUM X SALAMAT HUSAIN

LEGENDARY ARTIST MF HUSAIN’S GRANDSON, SALAMAT HUSAIN TRAVELS TO AHMEDABAD FOR A PHOTOGRAPHIC EXPEDITION, EXCLUSIVELY FOR HELLO! TO CAPTURE THE QUAINT KASTURBHAI LALBHAI MUSEUM THAT HOUSES ICONIC ART PIECES FROM THE FAMILY’S PRIVATE COLLECTION

- ANKITA RATHOD

As we make way into the gated complex of Kasturbhai Lalbhai Museum, flanked by welllandscaped lush green lawns and a two-tier fountain, the pathway leads to a 115-year-old colonial mansion. It was once home to the Lalbhai family – and there’s a certain sense of serenity one experiences here. The brainchild of Sanjay Lalbhai, Chairman and Managing Director of Arvind Ltd, and his wife Jayshree, the museum began as a project to restore an ancestral home that was over a century old.

“The home was built by Laljibhai Sheth (Sanjay’s greatgrandfather) in 1905,” says Jayshree, under whose expert eye the project has been implemented. “Subsequently, his three sons – Chimanbhai, Kasturbhai and Narottambhai – lived here with their families, and then moved out. In 1997-98, we moved out too. We didn’t want this house to deteriorate. So, we thought of restoring it first and then putting it to some use,” she further adds.

“My husband (Sanjay) and I started collecting in the 80s just to decorate our home. Our interest in art was restricted to what appealed to us visually. It was helping my father-in-law take care of our family collection that broadened my horizon in art and we started selectively buying certain artists who we liked,” shares Jayshree, who credits Sanjay for his vision of recreating the home into a museum.