"I came across two distinctly different faces of hers,” reveals photographer Homyar Mistry, who was recently commissioned to make a photo frame of philanthropist Motlibai Wadia for the newly constructed Homai and Jimi Kathawalla Memorial Hall in the Bai Motlibai Wadia Adaran in Malcolm Baug, Jogeshwari. In an email to Parsiana he reveals that one was "the artist’s impression” that most are familiar with and which hangs in several institutions and religious places. The second, he reveals, is an actual black and white picture that he was presented with from "her family treasure.” The round plate with the visage of Wadia is a family souvenir commissioned in 2011 to mark the 200th birth anniversary of the philanthropist. "I chose the black and white photo from the family archives instead of the (better known) artist’s impression,” states Mistry.
Motlibai Wadia: commemorative plate (right) and frame in Homai and Jimi Kathawalla Memorial Hall
Writing in Parsi Lustre on Indian Soil, H. D. Darukhanawala notes that "during her widowhood of 66 years, (Motlibai, b.1811, d.1897) gave away freely to all without distinction of caste or creed, and erected several institutions of public utility, the total amount of her benefactions amounting to more than Rs 25 lakhs.”
The Wadia Adaran fire at Jogeshwari was first consecrated in a building at Pitha Street in Bombay’s Fort area built by Motlibai in memory of her father Jehangirjee Nusserwanjee Wadia on June 10, 1863. Around 1945 it was shifted to the H. B. Wadia Atash Behram premises before being re-enthroned at its present location inside Malcolm Baug on April 29, 1966, noted a previous email received from the trustees of the Wadia Adaran.