Munish Jhajharia, the new president of The Bengal Rowing Club, is a man of varied interests. A real estate developer, he takes as much interest in building contemporary living spaces as he does in advocating the conservation of built heritage. The founder trustee of the Calcutta Heritage Collective, he is an avid enthusiast of antiques and art. He is deeply into Urdu poetry and loves collecting vintage books. In a t2 chat, Jhajharia talks about the green initiatives of the club, growing strong culturally, and his wish to host Gulzar.
For how long and in what ways have you been associated with The Bengal Rowing Club?
I joined probably in 2016, in the sub-committee of development. After a year, I was elevated to the main committee, which is the governing body, as we call it here. I’ve handled development for close to six years. In terms of building infrastructure here, we started with the swimming pool project with solar panels over it. Then we took on the sports complex, a centrally conditioned complex, which is enviable. Larger projects came in later that included rebuilding the kitchen, which is nearly 3,000sq ft, done with a consultant from Mumbai.
Being a part of a club that is nestled in a lush surrounding and has a beautiful lake with its own ecosystem, what measures have you taken to preserve it?
I would want to highlight that we have taken Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building certification, and because we are in a very ecologically centric place with 192 hectares of the Rabindra Sarovar Lake, 11,000 species of trees and migratory birds, we have no business spoiling it. We have lifeboats, alarm systems, and we release fish in the lakes every year to maintain that composition of marine life.
We have protected everything which we have received from the past. We convert our own soil and don’t discharge it into the public sewage. We have nearly 125 kilowatt of solar power, our own composting machine. Our very recent step towards the environment is that we have stopped using plastic, so you will not see plastic bottles from next month. We have ordered our own bottling plant to deliver RO water in glass bottles. I can say it very proudly that we stand out amongst all other clubs in this ecosystem. We belong here.
You have been associated with the club for almost a decade and have been part of major projects. Now that you have taken the presidentship, what is your vision for the club?
In my opening speech at the club, I had mentioned that I have nothing great to achieve this year because it has been achieved all over the years; the initiatives continue. I have not earmarked that I will do something spectacular this year. Every year, we have worked very hard to deliver our thoughts. You might think that I have leverage now as a president, but I had this leverage all the time and I would say that I have been very lucky that I always had a voice. Having said that, there are some initiatives, like the bottling plant, and a members-only parking space, to quell the parking problem.
Being a conservationist, how has it helped in shaping the policies for the club?
The club was formed on August 29, 1929... we will be touching 100 in three years. All these thoughts of green building, preservation, conservation in terms of ecology, come from those same ethos. We keep the built heritage of the building intact, rather than completely modernising it. We have not broken anything old. If you see the lounge, we have gone back in time to create that experience of the Zamindari heritage, I would say. Heritage has been a subject very close to my heart, and we work extremely hard in preserving it elsewhere also.
BRC is big in sports, especially rowing. What are your plans in terms of getting more sports and more participation from youth?
Sports was never a priority in this club. If you go back a decade, our priority was only food. We got into sports later. Our sports infrastructure is much stronger now with a big sports complex. We have the best coaches for all the disciplines — swimming, badminton, squash, and we have just started pickleball — and a fantastic gym. So we take pride in how the sports have developed suddenly over the last five-six years.
The club is also hosting a lot of cultural events...
We are getting very culturally strong. We take pride in our culture. We had a sindoor khela, and, I tell you, it was brilliant. We even had a Durga Puja celebration for the first time, and it was mind-boggling. Diwali and Kali Puja celebrations too. Also, it is my wish, and the entertainment team is working very hard, to have Gulzar sir in the club. I love Urdu and I am fond of poetry.