Welcome to Aaron Manky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of I Heart Radio and

Grim and Mild. Our world is full of the unexplainable.

And if history is an open book,

all of these amazing tales are right there on display,

just waiting for us to explore.

Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. Clara was having a moment.

Over the course of one summer she'd gone from a complete unknown to the hottest socialites in Europe.

From Amsterdam to Paris, her name was on every tongue.

Royals and aristocrats waited patiently to meet her.

Crowds would gather wherever she went out in public, rich or poor, royal or commoner.

Everyone wanted a glimpse of the beauty from India with the large gentle eyes and the prominent nose.

It didn't hurt that Clara had a sob story

to melt even the coldest of hearts.

She was born in the Indian state of Assam in 1738.

When she was barely a month old, her mother was murdered.

Fortunately, Clara was adopted by a man from the Netherlands, who turned out to be a director of the

Dutch East India Company in West Bengal.

Clara grew up on his estate in Kolkata.

She had free reign of the grounds with valets to see to everything she needed.

But as she grew, her busy adoptive father struggled to keep her occupied.

So he did what any affluent 18th century father would have done when they wanted to get their

teen daughters out of their hair.

...