Sifra Lentin

Sifra Lentin

Bombay History Fellow

Sifra Lentin is Fellow, Bombay History Studies. She was Visiting Fellow 2018 at the Herbert Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at University of Pennsylvania for a project on Karachi’s Jews. Her latest Gateway House policy report on “India and the SCO, Bound by Buddhism” (November 2020) proposed how India could leverage her soft power as the holy land of Buddhism in this multilateral grouping.  Her “Mumbai-Shanghai Sister Cities” report (May 2017): proposed recommendations on how sister city relationships between these two cities can be made to work. She has also written a number of books, namely, Bombay’s International Linkages (Gateway House, 2019); Our Legacy: The Dwarkadas Family of Bombay (2018), and A Salute to the Sword Arm – A photo Essay on the Western Fleet (Western Naval Command, 2007). Her work has also appeared in edited volumes: “The Jewish Presence in Bombay” in India’s Jewish Heritage: Ritual, Art, & Life-Cycle (Marg Publication, 2002), “Shalom India” published in One India One People’s book Know India Better (2006), “The Jewish presence in Mumbai: their contribution to the city’s economic, social and cultural fabric”, in Mumbai—Socio-Cultural Perspectives: Contribution of Ethnic Groups & Communities (Primus Books, 2017).

Sifra graduated in English Literature from Elphinstone College, Mumbai, and went on to complete her Bachelor’s in General Law (BGL) from Government Law College, Mumbai.  Her earlier career was in journalism with a focus on Bombay and South Asian Jewish history. Most notably, she wrote a popular thrice-weekly column for Mid-Day “Vintage Mumbai” from 1995 to 1997 and a five-part Partition series for Reuters on the golden jubilee of Indian Independence in 1997. She is on the Board of Trustees of the Sir Jacob Sassoon School (Byculla, Mumbai).

Expertise

History, Bombay

Last modified: March 19, 2024

Recent projects

SifraExcerpt Courtesy: Sarmaya Arts Foundation
7 March 2024 Manak Publications Pvt. Ltd.

Japan in Bombay and its presidency

India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is currently visiting Japan for the 16th India-Japan Foreign Ministers Strategic Dialogue. The bilateral, which began 130 years ago with Bombay’s cotton trade, has deepened into a Special Strategic and Global Partnership in defence, digital technologies, semiconductor supply chains, clean energy, trade and connectivity. The following book excerpt traces the origin of India-Japan trade ties.
pohoomull Courtesy:
8 February 2024 Gateway House

The Bombay-Cairo connect

When the 154-year-old man-made Suez Canal became operational, it reduced the voyage between Europe and India from four months to 30 days. It made Egypt the centre for the development of modern tourism in the mid-19th century, attracting entrepreneurs from across empires. A brisk business grew with the Sindhis from the Bombay Presidency, who made the Egyptian free ports and Cairo as their first overseas bases.
bene-israel-india-mumbai-1348x900 Courtesy: NewsDrum
16 November 2023 Gateway House

Port of Bombay and its Jewish Communities

Eighteenth century Bombay was home to two Jewish communities: Marathi-speaking Bene-Israel Jews and Judeo-Arabic-speaking Baghdadi Jews. The city was a a major hub for employment, business, religious, community, and cultural life. These activities were formerly dispersed among many hubs across the Middle-East for the Baghdadi Jews, and among the villages of the North Konkan for the Bene-Israel.
work visas paper Courtesy: Gateway House
2 November 2023 Gateway House

Internationalising Indian Education: Work Visas for Foreign Students

Indian companies are internationalising, and so should Indian education. The National Education Policy of 2020 recommends a series of policy initiatives and reforms in higher education institutes to attract foreign students to India. But making India an attractive destination for foreign students hinges on offering them the opportunity to work in the country too. Our new report shows how an expanded provision of work visas for foreign students is a progressive and natural extension of the NEP, enabling Indian campuses to internationalise, make India a global education hub and strengthen its international academic and corporate networks.
education Courtesy: Mint
26 October 2023 The Indian Express

India needs a student work visa

The National Education Policy (2020) has made internationalisation a key priority for Indian higher education. However, gaps remains because the NEP does not offer foreign students opportunities to gain work experience in India. An expanded provision of student work visas is necessary to amplify the advantages of the NEP and tap the demographic and financial potential of an internationalised higher education ecosystem.
PTI06_24_2023_000252B Courtesy: India TV News
28 September 2023 Gateway House

Indians in Egypt: Reviving Connectivity

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Cairo on 24-25 June en route home after a successful state visit to the U.S., has highlighted the presence of the small but flourishing Indian community in Egypt. Comprising just 4,300 today, these Indians built businesses over the decades when Egypt was a British Protectorate, and after, and are important to the current upswing in the bilateral
ANI-20230705152949 Courtesy: ANI
10 August 2023 Gateway House

Bombay’s historic ties to Zanzibar

On a recent visit to Tanzania, India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar announced the establishment of the first overseas campus of the premier Indian Institute of Technology Madras on its islands of Zanzibar in Africa. The choice of Zanzibar is significant: 180 years ago, it was the very first interface between Indian merchants and the East African mainland.
FuIkSegXwAA1PDo Courtesy: Twitter / Hindustan Times
20 April 2023 Gateway House

A Buddhist quest for global peace

The first Global Buddhist Summit is being held in New Delhi this week, a continuation of India's strategic and diplomatic outreach to Buddhist countries in Asia. The Summit offers India an opportunity to deepen the dialogue on its shared, millennia-old transnational Buddhist legacy with these countries, and arrive at contemporary solutions for global conflicts using the lens of Buddha Dhamma.
dc-Cover-aadd91r62jmke04vrfagfboru4-20230321071144.Medi Courtesy: Deccan Chronicle
21 March 2023 Gateway House

India-Japan: Bound by the Ancient Tenjiku

The Edo era in Japan adopted the Buddhist worldview that placed India at the center of the human world. This was reflected in their maps, till the mid-19th century. The geopolitical context of these spiritual maps wielded a profound influence on Japan’s Buddhist clergy and its laity, a world view that echoes the present.
Vol 1 no 01 Courtesy: The Marg Foundation
3 March 2023 Gateway House

Marg @ 75: recasting India’s cultural identity

India’s famous cultural icon, Marg magazine, has turned 75 along with the nation. It has republished some of its path-breaking articles, adding an introduction with a contemporary rethink. The outcome is an intellectual inquiry, with clues on how a confident 21st-century India must shape its global and regional positioning.