An autographed baton of conductor Zubin Mehta, a tabla set signed by Zakir Hussain and a self-portrait of Dr Homi Jehangir Bhabha will be among the rare items at an auction by the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai on Saturday.
The proceeds of the auction, "An Evening with the Maestro", by NCPA will go towards education of "the promising and the underserved", as well as procuring musical instruments for the Symphony Orchestra of India.
The auction will feature among other items a cricket bat signed by the Indian team that toured South Africa in 2015, a French parasol frame bearing the insignia of Dr Bhabha, and a portrait of Dr CV Raman painted by Bhabha.
The starting bid for Zubin Mehta's baton, Zakir Hussain's tabla set and the cricket bat has been placed at Rs 10 lakh each.
The French parasol frame and and Dr Bhabha's Montblanc Meisterstck 149 will be up for auction at a starting bid of Rs 1 lakh each.
Testament to the versatility of Dr Bhabha, his 1928 oil on canvas self-portrait and a pastel and granite on paper portrait of Dr Raman will go under the hammer at the starting price of Rs 5 lakh and Rs 3 lakh, respectively.
KN Suntook, chairman NCPA, said that the auction will help NCPA support its efforts towards performing arts in India.
"To maintain an organisation like the NCPA, which presents five major genres and all at peak levels, is expensive but if artistic values are respected, the bill is quite substantial and certainly not made up through box office," Suntook said.