MUMBAI, Nov. 1 -- In Kannada author Jayant Kaikini's deeply moving short story, 'Opera House', translated by Tejaswini Niranjana, readers are given a fictional rendering of the night before the iconic Mumbai structure downed its shutters after a 77-year-long run, first as a live performance centre and later, as a cinema hall. The protagonist Indranil, a theatre staffer unaware of the future that awaits, spends a rather long night thinking about the owner of a thermos flask he finds inside a bag lying on one of the seats at the venue. But when he wakes up the next morning, determined to return the flask, a distraught co-worker tells him that the gates of their beloved Opera House were going to be locked. Indranil hands over the flask to him and climbs the "stairwell corner where there's a single beam of sunshine". "The sun was cuddling the whole cinema hall, and this beam seemed to have come inside specially to console him," Niranjana's translation reads. In a way, Kaikini's heartbroken Indranil reflected the larger sentiment of Mumbaikars when the Royal Opera House, Mumbai (ROHM) closed in 1993. Having served as Mumbai's crown jewel since its opening in 1916, this historical Baroque edifice that incorporated a blend of European and Indian detailing had been part of both the city's colonial and post-colonial consciousness. For the Gondal family, the royals from the princely state of Gondal in the Kathiawar region of Gujarat, which had been steering the cultural institution after Maharaja Vikramsinhji of Gondal acquired it in 1952, the decision to bring the curtain down had been equally painful. "It was a difficult time for single-screen cinemas across India. Video piracy had hit cinema exhibition hard and shut down almost all single-screen theatres in the country. The Opera House could not escape that larger shift," recalls Rajmata Kumud Kumari of Gondal, who had memories of watching many of Prithviraj Kapoor's plays here as a child. The closure, however, she says was never meant to be the end. "Bringing it back to life was always part of our long-term vision," says the Rajmata, wife of the late Maharajasaheb Jyotendrasinh of Gondal who passed on in 2022, adding that the family always remained committed to the building and its future." This month, the Royal Opera House, which is now India's only surviving opera house, celebrated a decade since its restoration and reopening as a centre for live music and visual storytelling. "For our family, the Opera House is a legacy that we have worked hard to preserve and carry forward. Seeing it restored and active is a source of great pride, because it allows us to carry forward what previous generations envisioned," she says in an email interview. The Gondal family is known to be pioneers in the field of education, having erected schools and colleges, built technical centres for engineers, training facilities for labourers and provided free and compulsory education for both men and women, since the time of Maharaja Bhagvatsinhji's who ruled the state from 1869 to 1944. The family, which today runs the Maharani Shree Rajkunvarba Sarvajanik Kanya Vidyalaya and Rajput Girls Hostel, in Gondal, has also had a deep allegiance towards arts and culture, and the ROHM allowed them an opportunity to cultivate that sensibility in Mumbai. "I was raised and educated here, as was Himanshusinhji [her son and current heir], and we both have a deep fondness for the Bombay of those years," says the Rajmata. For the Rajmata and her late husband, restoring the structure meant making zero compromises. "Our aim was to preserve almost everything as it was in 1916," she says. This included the historic interiors, the auditorium, the royal boxes, the chandeliers and the proscenium stage. "We wanted the building to be as it was meant to be, not a reinterpretation of it." Unfortunately, she says, the technology to revive and restore the building to its original state simply did not exist in the 1990s. "Air-conditioning was the hardest part. It was not possible with the systems available in those days. Finding the right team was also a challenge. We needed conservation architects, structural consultants and someone to oversee execution," she says. After an endless wait of over a decade, during which time the family met and interviewed several architects, the Rajmata was introduced to conservation architect Abha Narain Lambah through the recommendation of a friend. "I was impressed from our first meeting. She understood the building as a heritage structure first." The restoration, which finally began in 2008, was carried out under close family supervision, with the support of Ashish Doshi, director, ROHM and Lambah. Though the original embellishments were retained, several modern amenities were included into the design, such as air-conditioning and contemporary light and sound systems. "A building like this has to keep up with its times," she says. The family also contributed several pieces, including chandeliers and a Victorian settee from their palace. "For us, the Royal Opera House is itself a family heirloom. So, in a way, these pieces simply moved from one personal heirloom to another. it is a pleasure to see them ornament the space and be enjoyed by those who visit," she says. The Opera House opened to the public in October 2016, over 23 years after it first shuttered. A year later, it took home the Award of Merit at the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation. "It affirmed the approach that respected the Opera House's architectural heritage while restoring its role as a working performance venue," says the Rajmata. However, the work of rebuilding and reviving the space had only just begun. "While the building's history is rooted in performance, we wanted its use to extend across artistic disciplines and contemporary cultural conversations," she says. The family roped in Avid Learning, which has since led the programming at the Opera House, under the curatorial leadership of its CEO Asad Lalljee. "The result has been a genre-agnostic, multidimensional programme encompassing theatre, music, dance, comedy, literature, panel discussions and cultural festivals. The aim was to create opportunities for established artists as well as emerging talent, while working with cultural institutions and partners to introduce audiences to a wide range of perspectives," she says. Ten years on, the historical institution has, in keeping with its 110-year-old legacy, managed to secure a foothold in the city's vibrant and burgeoning cultural scene. But operating the auditorium remains fraught with practical challenges. "Its technical requirements, production limitations and ongoing maintenance need to be carefully managed. With a seating capacity of 575, each production must be planned around the building's physical constraints while ensuring a rewarding experience for artists and audiences. There is also a need to balance the commercial realities of running a venue with its broader cultural purpose," she says. For the family though, the continued use of the Opera House in the last decade has become an important measure of the restoration's success. They've also used the lessons from that exercise while preserving the other legacy institutions they own, namely the Riverside, Orchard and Naulakha palaces in Gondal and the Jayamahal Palace in Bengaluru. "Several of them also house museums, including collections of pottery, vessels, horse carriages and classic and vintage cars. Our priority remains to care for the heritage entrusted to the family and to ensure it is preserved for future generations," she says, adding, "Each landmark has its own history and needs, and we will continue to look after them."...