For over a decade, Dr Cavas Bilimoria served as physician at SoBo’s cultural mecca, tending to world-class artistes who turned to him during sickness and jitters. Now retired, he spreads wisdom and joy surrounding Western classical music through sporadic lectures
As a young man, Cavas Bilimoria made the pragmatic decision to pick medicine over music. His years as the NCPA physician allowed him to bring together his profession and passion. Pic/Shadab Khan
It's a perfect morning at the Nariman Point campus of the National Centre for Performing Arts: strains of Western classical music travel across its foyers, and sunlight reflects gently off its central chandelier. As he stares into the distance—at the Arabian Sea—Dr Cavas Bilimoria declares with utmost conviction, “Did you know Gustav Mahler was actually Parsi? His real name was Gustad Maneckji.” We realise that he is speaking of the Austrian Jewish composer regarded as an outstanding conductor. It takes mere seconds for the serious look on his sage face to give way to a smile; he’s joking, of course—only testing this writer’s knowledge mid-interview.
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Legends such as Mahler and Vivaldi were once the subjects of the doctor’s education in music, through the records played in his childhood home, and at the hands of a Belgian teacher during his teens. Now, at 82, he delivers in-depth talks about their best-known works to keen listeners at the NCPA, drawing their attention to nuances and presenting nuggets from the composers’ life stories.
But this isn’t Dr Bilimoria’s first stint at the institution; for 14 long years, he was physician to the musicians who played in the Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI), the institute’s chairman and even its grounds staff. “That’s what you call a clean sweep,” he says with a chuckle.
His young colleagues recall how the doctor listened to operatic pieces between appointments in his clinic near the Jamshed Bhabha Theatre, as he snacked on the occasional sandwich. “Have you listened to this opera?” he’d ask earnestly, when they dropped by. After stints at the Dabhol Power Station, pharma giant Roche and Royal Dutch Shell, he had nearly retired. This coincided with the formation of the SOI, where the need for a physician was felt. When NCPA Chairman Khushroo N Suntook offered him the job, he accepted readily, and it has proved to be the most interesting and colourful chapter of his career. “I was able to combine my profession with my passion, without having to pick one over the other.”
The octogenarian and his brother, Jamshed ‘Jimmy’ Bilimoria, were surrounded by music and medicine in childhood. Their father owned 2,000-odd shellac records, and their Marine Drive home housed a piano played by their mother. When he used to listen to records, Dr Bilimoria found the sound of the violin particularly endearing. “I did study the piano for a while, but my heart was in the violin. My father warned me repeatedly about how difficult it is. ‘Maybe,’ I said, ‘but I want to learn it.’ It can be a complex instrument for anybody—it was invented by the Devil for his own use!” he says. Monsieur Jules Craen, the Belgian teacher who taught him, was the then conductor of the Bombay Symphony Orchestra.
Dr Bilimoria was a bonafide super-fan, owning autographed photos of the greats he cherished, like Fritz Kreisler and Jascha Heifetz. “I wrote to them and they replied; those were the days when world-famous musicians used to respond to letters,” the amateur violinist recounts. And though his first preference would have been music, he made the pragmatic choice of picking medicine. Nearly everyone in the family, except his father, was a doctor; in fact, his grandfather was Bombay’s municipal health officer.
So, what does a doctor to orchestra musicians do that is unlike his peers in the outside world? “The illnesses musicians suffer are much the same as you and I do—colds, flus, fevers. And something peculiar to musicians—nervousness, right before concerts. This required me to prescribe medicines which would help them calm down but not affect their focus and concentration,” Dr Bilimoria explains. He considers it a privilege that he was able to attend to master conductors such as Canada’s Charles Dutoit, with whom he shares a close friendship.
When the whole orchestra would meet for the first time, he’d instruct them about the basics: drinking boiled, filtered water, and the temperature at which the AC should be set. “And staying away from street food, however tempting it may be. Musicians who give in to street food do so at their own risk; those who did would call upon me, about their upset tummies... Sometimes it felt like I was a priest, listening to these confessions!” says the Godrej Baug resident.
The hours he spent at his clinic at the NCPA meant that Dr Bilimoria witnessed the centre’s evolution from a unique vantage point. As he puts it, “I’ve been part of the kitchen work before the meal is served.” He is of the opinion that it remains unmatched in programming and support of the arts in India, crediting Suntook for the strides it has made since he joined. “Suntook is a walking encyclopaedia on music. And although he isn’t a musician, he has a keen ear and can instinctively tell what is good, what is ordinary, and what is bad.”
When Dr Bilimoria voluntarily put down his stethoscope as the institute’s physician last May, it was his old friend Suntook who urged him to take on a second career, so his relationship with the institute could live on. “Suntook was reluctant to let me go. He said, ‘Stay here for the music. Consider giving talks and sharing your knowledge.’ I agreed instantly because this is something I always wanted to do.” Theirs is a strong friendship that goes back so many years that the doctor is unable to pinpoint exactly when they crossed paths, though he is certain it was in circles where Western classical music was the focus.
The city’s appetite for the genre remains alive, but its takers have diversified, says Dr Bilimoria. “Until about 20 years ago, the audience was chiefly Parsis and Christians, but now we see people from other communities coming in too,” he says. His talks, which have taken place four times a month since June 2023, are typically attended by lay persons and a handful of amateur musicians. Through them, he wants to make more people interested in the genre, “which is difficult to understand, not widely considered melodious, and perceived as high-brow. I wanted to simplify it… My talks are akin to watching an Italian opera with English subtitles—allowing attendees to better understand what they’re listening to,” he says.
For these talks, Dr Bilimoria draws from the lessons his music teachers imparted, as well as the knowledge he absorbed at the NCPA. He frequently turns on the DVD player, supplementing his explanations with recordings. As we speak, he gears up for sessions focused on iconic pieces like The Four Seasons by Vivaldi. When asked if there’s a composer that he feels partial towards, Dr Bilimoria responds in true Parsi style. “Asking me which composer is my favourite is like asking me if I prefer scrambled eggs, omelette, or a sunny side up!”
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