Days of the Raj, chronicled through exhibition of postcards from the time Noor Arora
If you look carefully, you can find fascinating stories in mundane things like matchboxes, labels and even postcards. For example, one of the nuggets of information gleaned from an early 20th-century European postcard is that, even at the height of British rule in India, one pound sterling was worth 15 rupees. Another postcard, a photograph of English people and their staff on a houseboat in Srinagar explains that houseboats became popular because the Maharaja of Kashmir wouldn’t let outsiders buy property in his state. These postcards feature in a recently published book called Paper Jewels: Postcards from the Raj by Omar Khan, visuals from which are on display at an eponymous travelling exhibition. A Group of School Girls, Madras (1902) A Group of School Girls, Madras (1902) On view now at Mumbai’s Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum, the exhibition focuses on postcards from India during the first half of the 20th century. It is curated by Khan and Rahaab Allana, of the Alkazi Foundation for the Arts, and relies almost entirely on Khan’s personal collection. New research in archives and private collections in India, Pakistan, Europe and the US bolsters Khan’s collection to tell a nuanced story about the changing face of Bombay, industrialisation,