Surrendra Paul Lecture
The Surrendra Paul Lecture was instituted by Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Golpark, Kolkata, in the memory of our Late Chairman Mr Surrendra Paul. This memorial lecture held annually since 1991, after his sudden demise in 1990, is rooted in his progressive way of thinking. Over the last 29 years, eminent personalities from various walks of life have spoken from this platform about God, science, religion, spirituality, work ethics, medicine, importance of values in modern life, Swami Vivekananda’s teachings, pluralism and spiritual values of Indian culture.
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Some of the past speakers of the lecture were Dr Kalyan Sarkar, Senior Vice Chairman and Senior Consultant Cardiac Surgeon, Medica Superspeciality Hospital; Swami Bhajananandaji Maharaj, Senior Trustee, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math; Swami Muktidananda, Adhyaksha, Advaita Ashrama; Swami Atmapriyananda, Vice Chancellor, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University, Belur Math; Dr Sudipto Roy, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Indiana State University, USA; Swami Shantatmananda, Secretary, Ramakrishna Mission, New Delhi, among others. Remembering his keenness for Indian values & culture, the institute had set up the Surrendra Paul Chair of Indological Studies and Research in 1991 to encourage young scholars to study different branches of Indology.
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Apeejay Jit Paul Memorial Lecture
Apeejay Jit Paul Memorial lecture was created in the memory of our late patriarch Mr Jit Paul as part of Kolkata Literature Festival at the International Kolkata Book Fair in 2014. Ever since its inception, the lecture has witnessed many renowned personalities speak about their perspectives on themes as diverse as the significance of humanities in today’s world; problems with the Indian education system; importance of values like honesty, hard work and openness to learn in today’s world; making a life vs making a living and India after 70 years of independence.
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The past editions have been graced by stalwarts from respective fields such as Homi Bhabha, Anne F Rothenberg Professor of Humanities, Department of English, Harvard University, in conversation with Sugata Bose, Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs, Harvard University; Sudha Murty, Chairperson, Infosys Foundation and wife of former Infosys Chairman Narayan Murty; Jawhar Sircar, former CEO of Prasar Bharti Limited, in conversation with Devi Kar, Principal, Modern High School for Girls; Anuja Chauhan, bestselling author, screenwriter and advertising consultant, in conversation with Saikat Majumdar, Professor of English and Creative Writing at Ashoka University; and renowned author, commentator and thought leader Gurcharan Das.
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The Vaadhyar’s House restoration in Tamil Nadu
We have acquired and restored the 150 year old heritage mansion “The Vaadhyar’s House” in the heart of Chettinad region located in Sivaganga district in Tamil Nadu. A year and a half ago, the mansion was in ruins with roofs falling in, glasses - broken and missing. Studies were done and The Vaadhyaar’s House was brought back to its original form with some adaptive reuse, plugging-in modern day comforts of air conditioning and services such as toilets and kitchen yet capturing the traditional essence of indoor and outdoor living. The 21-room restored hotel, which opened in August 2018, is a one hour drive from Trichy airport and is the latest in the collection of heritage and design-led Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels of the Group.
The Arts Acre Foundation in Kolkata
We have co-funded the The Arts Acre Foundation in Kolkata. The Foundation was inaugurated on 6th March 2014 by the Chief Minister of West Bengal and houses art galleries, auditoriums, museums, studios, open air theatres, bookstores, residential apartments for guests as well as eateries. Our Chairman Mr Karan Paul is one of the Trustees of the Foundation and has helped oversee the development of this institution into an idyllic setting for an art lover and a budding hub for artists and men of letters. In the last few years Arts Acre has seen the likes of Chintamani Kar, Mrinal Sen, Bhabesh Sanyal, Subhas Mukhopadhyay, Ashok Mitra, Santosh Kumar Ghosh, Gour Kishor Ghosh, Arun Mitra, Mulk Raj Anand, Khushwant Singh, Sibnarayan Roy, Satish Gujral and Manjit Bawa throng its spaces. By helping set up this institution, Apeejay Trust nurtures young artists in the field of visual arts and takes forward our commitment to preserving and promoting art.
Park Mansions Restoration in Kolkata
We have restored the over 100 year old heritage Park Mansions on Park Street in Kolkata. Developed by Armenian jute merchant, T.M. Thaddeus in 1910, Park Mansions, a sprawling majestic building on Park Street Kolkata, was constructed as a rental property with mixed-usage sections comprising both residential and commercial segments. The building, spread over 5 bighas, has a central courtyard and a garden. The architecture is a mix of Victorian and Indo-Saracen styles, with a bulbous dome on the roof, British–style interiors with a touch of Indian architectural details on the façade. While age and disrepair took their toll on the building, a devastating fire at Alliance Francaise damaged sections of the structure. The heat led to excessive stress on the structure, weakening the building´s northeast corner.
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Apeejay Real Estate gave Park Mansions a major makeover in 2010. We started the renovation project for Park Mansions in 2008 in a phased manner without moving the old tenants out of their homes. Amongst other facets of restoration of this city centre architectural heritage, the multi-crore project also included reversing the effects of aging and correcting the stress imbalance caused by a fire in the early 1990s. The work involved reinforcing the sections that had been weakened by the fire, modernizing the escalators and the overhead water distribution system and improving the driveway and the lighting arrangements. While this is a commercial building, it is part of the city's glorious architectural heritage which needed significant funding and painstaking restoration effort.
The result of the meticulous restoration work of Park Mansions was the coveted KMC-INTACH Heritage Award 2013 which was bestowed upon the building by Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) in 2013.
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Jantar Mantar Restoration in Delhi
We have entered into a unique private-government partnership with the National Culture Fund and Archeological Survey of India to restore the historic Jantar Mantar Observatory in New Delhi a few years back. Together, we planned to work towards the preservation, maintenance, upgradation and beautification of Jantar Mantar in accordance with its conservation requirements.
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In the first stage, a detailed feasibility report was prepared based on historical research, preliminary structural assessment and present cultural function of the yantras or calculation instruments. In the second stage, the various yantras were documented, corrective maintenance was carried out and research/analysis of the observatory’s history (such as the yantras’ original function and its original construction elements) was completed. To raise public awareness about the fascinating yantras, we helped create visual CDs and new signage panels, and organised interactive lectures at the observatory on Summer/ Winter Solstices and Spring/Autumn Equinoxes in partnership with Nehru Planetarium and the Astronomers Association of India. Illumination of all the yantras was completed as the last leg to the project in 2009.
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Green Delhi
A little less than a decade ago we were among the first corporates to begin work on the Green Delhi Project, the Apeejay Surrendra Group has been instrumental in planting over 1,100 trees on Rao Tula Ram Marg and Zakir Hussain Marg in central New Delhi.
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We have also adopted several islands, trees and plants along the approach roads to New Delhi’s domestic airport to enhance shade and help absorb vehicular pollutants.
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FICCI study
The phenomenal growth in the Indian art market during the past few years and the rising international interest in contemporary Indian art have brought India's art industry at the threshold of a new era. We believe that it is time that a policy framework is put in place to propel the art industry on a sustained high-growth trajectory. Keeping this in mind, Apeejay Trust co-sponsored a Study conducted by leading industry association, FICCI, to understand the levels of cultural responsibility of Corporate India.
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The Survey drew responses from over 150 major Corporates in India and revealed that Corporates support various arts to serve the dual purpose of benefiting the communities in which they operate and to build their corporate reputation.
While attempts have been made to provide an institutional base to the social sector activities of the Indian corporate sector, the extent of their support to art and culture have been largely unmeasured. We hope that the study adds to the repertoire of knowledge of the new constitutes namely, National Committee on Art and the Business of Art by FICCI. Represented by leading Indian artists, galleries, auction houses, art historians, policymakers, legal and tax experts and art patrons, the Committee is tasked with putting Art on the National Policy Agenda and catalysing policy changes to add momentum to the growth of the sector. Engaging Indian industry and corporates in the development of the art sector and forging Public Private Partnership in various realms of art and the business of art will also be on the Committee´s agenda.
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