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: April 3, 2020

Recent projects

A Biluchi Soldier and Hindu Trader of Sindh Courtesy: Archive.org
24 August 2017 Gateway House

The making of Bombay’s mini Sindh

Many of the Hindu Sindhi refugees who fled to India post Partition succeeded in rebuilding their lives afresh, their native entrepreneurial spirit enabling them to rise up from the destitution that displacement caused. Ulhasnagar, Thane district, which was a refugee camp 70 years ago, is a microcosm of how the community rehabilitated itself--with the help of a well dispersed and generous Sindhi trading network
old photos bombay Courtesy: Live Mint
15 August 2017 Gateway House

Bombay, Karachi, linked by sea and refuge

The 70th Independence Day for India and Pakistan – August 15 and 14 respectively – is a reminder of how Partition displaced 15 million people, causing untold hardship. What is less known is that the cities of Karachi and Bombay have had a shared colonial history and economy: the parting of ways left one bereft of a host of spirited citizens, who went on to rebuild their lives in the other

His Highness Aga Khan Adressing in Central Asia_1 Courtesy: Zahur Ramji
13 July 2017 Gateway House

When Bombay was home to the Aga Khans

The Aga Khan IV, Prince Karim al-Husayni, the religious head of of the Ismaili Shia Imamat, celebrated the diamond jubilee year of his leadership earlier this week with the launch of many development projects. What is not very well known is that Bombay was a centre for the consolidation of the community and its religious leaders’ influence

IMG_0796 Courtesy: Dr. Sarah Israel
29 June 2017 Gateway House

India, Israel and the chosen people

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel (July 4-6) marks 25 years of India’s diplomatic relations with the State of Israel. Forging political and economic ties with it has not been smooth sailing, and it’s the Indian Jewish community that has kept a tenuous relationship going
Arial_View_Flora_Fountain_Bombay Courtesy: Wonderful Mumbai
22 June 2017 Gateway House

Heritage on the brand wagon

One of the conclusions drawn from a recent panel discussion, co-hosted by Gateway House and Avid Learning, on how brands are helping promote heritage conservation, moderated by Sifra Lentin, Mumbai History Fellow, was that there is an urgent need to preserve Mumbai’s natural and built heritage to meet the Maharashtra government’s target--the year 2020--for inaugurating the international financial centre at Bandra-Kurla Complex. Here is a summary of the concerns that the panellists raised
Sister Cities Cover Courtesy: Gateway House
19 May 2017 Gateway House

Mumbai-Shanghai Sister Cities Agreement: Challenges and Opportunities

In light of our government's new understanding of the role that the sister cities relationship can play in envisioning urban projects in India, Gateway House's Mumbai History Fellow, Sifra Lentin, has readied a special report on the role and understanding of sister cities.

CFo1ubfUgAAzxei Courtesy: Consulate General of France in Mumbai
16 March 2017 Gateway House

More than a whiff of France in Bombay

All eyes are on the outcome of the French elections next month with its portents of a far right president being the people’s choice. But it was 200 years ago that Bombay forged its French connection. Trade with France ushered in cultural influences while the city’s early nationalists were drawn to the French Revolution’s political philosophy of ‘Liberty, Equality and Fraternity’
silk road Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
14 February 2017 Gateway House

Interweaving the old Cotton and Silk Routes

China’s resurrection of the ancient Silk Road is ambitious, sprawling, hegemonic. Its pre-European origins, though, lay in a criss-crossing of nameless caravan routes on which Indian cotton was traded as vigorously as Chinese silk, tangible proof of the interdependence of two ancient civilisations over two millennia
bandra kurla complex Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
19 December 2016 Gateway House

Bombay’s past and future as an IFC

The historic role of Bombay (as it was then called) as a hub for banking, commerce, trade, and shipping, and its financial clout a 100 years ago, are little known today. With the city scheduled to soon open an international financial services centre, it is worthwhile to recall and integrate this legacy with Mumbai’s present strengths in order to attract global capital to its IFSC
Sifra Germany Photo Courtesy: Chemould Prescott Road Archives
1 December 2016 Gateway House

A German renaissance in Bombay

Germany’s presidency of G20 in 2017 comes at a time when the country is in a state of deep flux. But its relations with India have always been unshaken. Even 80 years ago, German-speaking immigrants, fleeing the Second World war, greatly enhanced Bombay’s cultural life