Of Maharajas and (Modern) Men (Ch. 9)
In 45 B.C. the Romans developed a calendar centred around pontific ritualism and dictator’s superstitions. Fast-forward 2 millennia and February seemingly has 28 days, and this monthly newsletter's author must scramble to conform to the constraints of an absurd almanack.
Welcome back to yet another chapter of ink-uilab. This one features a compilation of consular caricatures, a trove of turbaned trivia, and a posy of philosophical poetry.
Tall tales from the round table:
The Round Table Conferences of 1930-1932 were a series of three momentous talks that echo through the annals of India's struggle for freedom from the British Raj. They were a unique moment of convergence, where political personalities from the subcontinent met with representatives of the British government congregated to deliberate on the proposed reforms to the Indian Constitution. The conferences were fascinating events to look back on - for a few days in the 1930s, some of the most prominent luminaries of the subcontinent and figureheads of the freedom movement graced a ballroom at the Royal Gallery House of Lords in London. The room would have been bustling, and hazy with smoke from pipes and mist from the British winter. An oval-shaped table (sadly, not perfectly round) would be at the centre of the room, and the walls would be lined with eager journalists, administrative assistants, and devotees of Gandhi. Passionate presentations and heated debates would punctuate the parliamentary procedure as Labour lawmakers locked horns with Muslim League members, Tories talked over Congressi consuls, and stately sovereigns sought assurances from chauvinistic civil servants.
This ink-uilab chapter focuses on the Second Round Table Conferences, held from 7 September 1931 to 1 December 1931, through the eyes of Emery Kelen, a Hungarian artist. Kelen witnessed history being made, chronicling famous diplomats and statesmen of the day in satirical cartoons. Owing to the fact that cameras were not allowed in the conference rooms, ‘his work was eagerly sought after [for] providing a humorous daily record of events.’
Kelen caricatured diplomats during The Indian Round Table Conferences, such as this fantastic ‘seating-plan’ of the event. He recalled the opening of the conference in November 1930 with a humourous description: “Imagine the House of Lords gone mad. I sat in the balcony listening to King George V opening the Round Table Conference, and spread below me were the great banks of turbans, fluorescent in the Gothic dusk, sulphur yellow, hellish red, poison green, and shocking pink, and when the king had done they came to life and popped around like fireflies.”
I recently stumbled across a scanned copy of a portfolio compiled during the Second Round Table Conference which contains a compilation of Kelens’ caricature portraits of individual participants. Foregoing notable attendees the likes of M.K. Gandhi and M.A. Jinnah, here’s a list of some interesting characters that were ‘in the room where it happen[ed]’ accompanied by Kelen’s colourful cartoons. Note, this is not meant to offer a comprehensive biography of each actor. Naturally, the focus here is amusing nonessentials and quippy asides.
Agha Khan III:
The third Aga Khan AKA Sir Sultan Muhammed Shah served as the 48th Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims from 1885 until his death in 1957. Beyond being a spiritual leader, he was also a prominent statesman, a horse racing enthusiast, and a major philanthropist. He was the founder of the All-Indian Muslim League and served as President of the League of Nations from 1937 to 1938 (The League of Nations deserves its own ink-uilab, there is so much to unpack!)
The primary reason for his inclusion on the list is his appearance in my favourite folk-pop song, ‘Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?’ (1969) by Peter Sarstedt. Beyond the wonderfully mellow melody, the song features such poignant lyrics as:
Your name it is heard in high places
You know the Aga Khan
He sent you a race horse for Christmas
And you keep it just for fun, for a laugh, ha-ha-haThe song is wistfully melancholic. Its opening accordion notes and Sarsted’s Baroque lyrics evoke nostalgia and an almost childlike yearning. The song also features in the closing soundtrack of Hotel Chevalier (2007), a short film by Wes Anderson that acts as a prologue to his ‘The Darjeeling Limited.’ You can listen to Sarsted playing the song live in 1969 here:
A. T. Pannirselvam
Pannirselvam was an attorney, landlord and leader of the Justice Party. He was a nominee of the Viceroy to represent Indian Christians at the Round Table Conference.
Interestingly and tragically, Pannirselvam vanished in March 1940 while flying to London to join the Secretary of State's Indian Council. His Imperial Airways flight, the Handley Page H.P.42 "Hannibal", disappeared someplace in the Gulf of Oman, killing everyone aboard. no trace of the aircraft, its occupants, or the air mail it carried has ever been discovered and the cause of the crash continues to remain unknown.
Homi Mody
Sir Hormasji Pherozeshah Mody AKA Sir Homi Mody was a noted Parsi businessman who served as a director with Tata Group. At the age of 32 in 1913, he was elected chairman of the Bombay Municipal Corporation, where he remained for the next 29 years. He was a driving force behind the foundation of the Indian Banks' Association and was appointed as the Governor of the United Provinces between 1949–52.
He is the father of Russi Mody, former chairman and managing director of Tata Steel. In keeping with the Tata approach of state-building over pure profit-seeking, JRD Tata once said to Russi, “it’s not important to be the best steel maker in the nation. It’s more important to do the best for the people who make it possible.”
Today Homi Mody’s is permanently branded onto the cartography of Bombay. He lends his name to the street on which the headquarters of the Tata Group stands, Homi Mody Street. One of my favourite eateries in the city, Brittania and Co., sits just a few blocks away.
Brittania and Co. was founded in 1923 and continues to exist in the 20th century. The walls are adorned with an antique clock that (somehow) continues to tick, three flags (Iran, the Indian tiranga, and the Union Jack), and a portrait of Gandhi alongside Queen Elizabeth, all under the saintly gaze of Zoroaster.
This wonderful blog collates a history of the eatery, while Simin Patel’s (AKA Miss. Bombaywalla) ongoing book project, Irani Restaurants of Bombay is likely to feature this classic cafe.
Brittania’s blackboard of instructions is iconic. So iconic, I must add, that the masterful Nizzim Ezekeil parodies it in a poem from 1972.
And finally, here’s a scene from a crowded weekend brunch at Brittania:
Muhammad Ahmad Said Khan Chhatari
Chhatari was a prominent Muslim League politician who served as the last Prime Minister of the Hyderabad State and also the First Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh after freedom.
He appears in a surrender speech given by the VIIth Nizam of Hyderabad, Osman Ali Khan after the culmination of Operation Polo when the Indian state invaded and annexed the princely state of Hyderabad. Here is an excerpt from the surrender speech of 23 September 1948: “In November last, a small group which had organized a quasi-military organization surrounded the homes of my Prime Minister, the Nawab of Chhatari, in whose wisdom I had complete confidence, and of Sir Walter Monkton, my constitutional Adviser, by duress compelled the Nawab and other trusted ministers to resign, and forced the Laik Ali Ministry on me. This group headed by Kasim Razvi had no stake in the country or any record of service behind it. By methods reminiscent of Hitlerite Germany it took possession of the State, spread terror ... and rendered me completely helpless.”
Sarojini Naidu
Sarojini Naidu was a masterful poet, writer, and political activist, known by her sobriquet ‘Nightingale of India.’ She was also the first woman to hold the position of President of the Indian National Congress and governor of an Indian state, the United Provinces. [I think, at present count, this chapter features THREE governors of U.P. - what are the odds?]
There are actually records of Naidu’s reactions to Kelen’s caricature of her. She wrote to her children: “Another long interval was occupied by a cartoonist then who is brilliant and very cruel. We had some R.T.C. cartoons then and there to the merriment of the audience; the one of me is terrible but it sold for 15 guineas then and there in aid of children’s hospital.”
We tried to visit Naidu’s birthplace and childhood home while we were exploring Hyderabad this winter. Her childhood home, the 'The Golden Threshold' is located within the walls of an annexe of the University of Hyderabad. Unfortunately, our sneaky attempts to talk our way into the heritage building were rebuffed. The watchmen at the gate seemed to buy the spun tale that Judah was an academic scholar of Naidu’s poetry who had travelled halfway across the world to visit her home. Unfortunately, they were unwilling to let us inside the building and risk running into the covener, who was allegedly supervising maintenance work inside.
Ganga Singh
General Sir Ganga Singh, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, GBE, KCB, GCStJ was Maharaja of the princely state of Bikaner. He served on the Imperial War Cabinet and was present at Versailles during the ‘Signing of Peace.’ Singh was also one of the most prominent Indian freemasons of his time.
Frankly, when I first saw the Kellen caricature, all I could think about were the obvious similarities to the iconic Air India Maharaja.
This wonderful article in Eye-on-Design traces the origins of the advertising symbol: “The airline’s potbellied, beloved mascot was instantly recognizable with his curling, oversized mustache, aquiline nose, striped turban, and serene, placid expression that can only be dubbed ‘resting Maharaja face.’”
As always, some verses, in parting:
One of the greatest Urdu poets, philosophers, scholars, and philosophers, Sir Mohd. Iqbal was named the state poet of Pakistan (which was created 9 years after his passing). Allama Iqbal presented a case for the the Two-nation theory at the Round Table Conference, and hence appears in Kellen’s caricatures:
I present to you Iqbal’s Modern Man (Zamana-e-Hazir Ka Insan) from his collection Rod of Moses. Zia Mohyeddin (RIP, 2023) does a powerful recitation of the original poem here.
An English translated by V.G. Kiernan is available in full online. Here it is:
Love fled, Mind stung him like a snake; he could not
Force it to vision’s will.
He tracked the orbits of the stars, yet could not
Travel his own thoughts’ world;
Entangled in the labyrinth of his science
Lost count of good and ill;
Took captive the sun’s rays, and yet no sunrise
On life’s thick night unfurled.
‘toodles,
BM
(All errors are my own, and a by-product of editing this at 3 a.m. during a snowstorm)
As usual , very interesting !The caricatures are excellent.