FESTIVAL OF INDIA 0 A TRUMPETfanfare from the President's Bodyguard, random remark of an Englishwoman outside the "See India" especially flown in from India, the twinkle of Ravi promotion at Selfridge's who said that "it makes me want to go Shankar's nimble fingers on the sitar, the mellifluous to India and learn more about it" was any indication, then the voice of M.S. Subbalakshmi and under the benevolent Indian Tourism Ministry which organised the show hasn't done gaze of Prince Charles, Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and too badly. Margaret Thatcher. the Festival of India was officially inaugurated The Selfridge's show which is to run for six months, before last fortnight. Outside, the sudden passage of an Indian summer travelling to other British towns, is built around some tacky after a spell of cold weather, had encouraged a few hundred treasures from the Maharaja of Jaipur's collections. The limelight demonstrators. is shared by the Handlooms & Handicrafts Export Corporation's From slogans like "Thatcher-Stop Virginity Tests" to (HHEC)Sona Boutique, Shahnaz Husain's herbal products and a "Kashmir Liberation Front", all manner of public protests were well-stocked. if boxy. gifts section (made up of marble boxes, being voiced. Earlier, there were rumours that Jaglit Singh bamboo boxes, brass boxes, mother-of-pearl inlay boxes. Chauhan's Khalistan group had planned a major demonstration. There are some glaring omissions such as of utility items; "Cl~ui~~chus",shouted other protestors, as elegant and well-heeled and the special silks and prints for the textile department failed members of the audience entered the Royal Festival Hall. passing to arrive for the opening. Although 12 show-windows have been through two rows of policemen patrolling the entrance. well-dressed with lndian designer Benoy Sarkar flown in to help, Inside. the atmosphere belonged to another world altogether. the 1,800 sq ft of sales space (and f 120,000. or Rs 21.6 crore, required Celebrities from the Indian world of art, craft, literature, politics for the HH~Cto recover costs) is poor on merchandise. HHEC and trade congregated to listen to Subbalakshmi, her diamonds Managing Director Diljeet Arora is optimistic about "selling at glittering, her hands beating time gracefully. A motley Indo- least 60 per cent of the goods on display" but concedes that there British crowd. the audience may not have been able to understand was no determined effort at market research. For this reason much of her music, but were only too eager to applaud. Ravi perhaps, the HHEC had ro enlist the help of lndian entrepreneurs Shankar's Second Concerto for the sitar and orchestra. with Zubin to supply goods such a Nalini saris, Zodiac shirts and Vaishali Mehta conducting the London Philharmonic, was in itself a brassware. remarkable partnership but the music it produced was an incom- Splendid Show: Mrs Gandhi's packed schedule on the six-day patible confusion of western melody and poor harmony on drums. official visit included the opening of a permanent Nehru exhibition Occasionally. its discordant notes were reminiscent of a Red Fort at Ambika House. set up by Paul and described as "a memorial wedding band or a Bombay film studio orchestra. But the packed to Nehru which will illustrate the meaning of his life for new hall lappped it up eagerly. generations in this counrry". Also n visit with Mrs Thatcher to Rare Gesture: Earlier in the day. Mrs Gandhi and her the splendid Hayward Gallery show entitled "In the Image of Man" entourage were received at London's Heathrow Airport by the containing the finest collection of 500 works of Indian art and British prime minister, in a rare gesture that cut across limitations sculpture ever seen. The gallery, a vast concrete structure, contains of protocol. But a more serious departure in British-or was it tine pieces of lndian sculpture sensibly seated on sand, thereby Indian?-protocol at the airport was the presence of the portly giving an earthy touch LO the stone images of Hindu gods and London-based industrialist Swaraj Paul at the end of the official goddesses and evoking a sense of great beauty and peace. red carpet upon which already stood Mrs Thatcher, Indian High With only the opening events of the Festival taking off, money Commissioner Syed Muhammed with his wife and Pupul Jayakar. is still pouring into the official Festival fund which is now worth Paul's presence irked some members of the Indian community over f 500,000 (Rs 90 lakh). This will help support Indian perform- in Britain and many British who noted the conspicuous absence ing artistes. some 200 in number. who will be visiting Britain of Sir Michael Walker-chairman of the British Festival Commi- through the year. "Their care has been our special concern", says ttee-and former high commissioner in New Delhi. Snapped an Lady Thompson, wife of the British high commissioner in New Delhi irate Paul when the criticisms were pointed out: "Where were who is on the British committee and was instrumental. together these people who now criticise me in 1978, when Mrs Gandhi with her husband, in originating the Festival. needed friends?" Lady Thompson admits that the Festival has had a sticky Although the British media exercised itself in taking note of time financially. but luckily for both sides. sponsorship from the Indian prime minister's arrival, reaction to the Festival was private companies has come in handy. Grindlays Bank. for mixed. and some sarcasm evident in the tone of the major dailies example. underwrote expenses for the inaugural concert at a cost heralding her achievements. In general. the popular press blanked of over Rs 12.5 lakh. Barclays Bank has been another major out the whole affair, but The Times dwelt upon the sentimental backer, and among London-based lndian companies that have relationship between the two countries in an editorial on the contributed over f 5.000 (Rs 90,000) are Paul's Caparo Group, the Festival. Tile Guurdiun called it the "biggest nation-to-nation Chandaria Foundation, the Chellaram Foundation. Bajaj Auto festival in history" adding that it "should be seen as a celebration Ltd. the Hinduja Foundation and others. Backing from lndian of the continuing links with a country from which one million of companies includes subsidies by Hindustan Lever, the Tatas, our citizens have sprung and a recognition of the changing- - contours of British culture". A group of children in national costrime at Heathrow to welcome Mrs Gandhi creditable : Reactions from the man-on-the-street to 2,000 years of Indian culture on display were hard to gauge in the first (ahove) who;.v(helnn.) receil,ed by tlze Britislr Premier Margaret Thatchrr.. few days-many had not even heard of the event-but if the PHOTOGRAPHS BY RAGHURAI 56 INDIA TODAY, APRIL 15, 1982 .".=-I schoolboys *** **** ,.-;--*OA M*..cnn~b; ;ntmArn..~ino rlnrrirnl InAinn rrslntrrvo tn Mr.* Thatcher at the Havward GaIIerv Singer Visitors M.S. Subbalok@mi view a scintillates royal treasure at inaugural from India concert An Indian guide promoting handicrafts at Serfridge's An Indian guide displays a traditional Indian jhoola Local Indians release pigeons in symbolic protest An inside view of Selfidge's prr - Inkchildren perform a masked dance beside the river 1 -. SPECIAL FEATURE Mahindra & Mahindra and Indian Oxygen Ltd. Pupul Jayakar. Paradeep mining project. chairman of the Indian committee organising the Festival, says Local Indians meanwhile have continued to provide their own that lndian expenses on the show will touch Rs I crore with background tableau of intrigues. quarrels and personality clashes. roughly two-thirds of the funding by the Government and the rest "We were only asked to collect money. we were never asked tor from private sources. any suggestions," says Tarsen Singh Toor, a Southall businessman. Tremendous Skills: "I've always felt that irlndia has to project Nevertheless. Toor and his fellow members of the Indian Overseas itself. it should project big or not all." said Jayakar before her Congress have managed to raise upwards off 10.000 (Rs 1.8 lakh) departure for London. "And that." she added. "is not always a from private donors for the Festival fund. Criticism of the Festival question of money. It is a question of showing the tremendous also continues to come from other sources. Said one lecturer in skills still available in this country. and also the tremendous sense Indian languages TI-om London University. "What's the point in of quality that is available." Says David Thompson. brother of having a festival celebrating lndian culture when the British Sir John Thompson. chai~man of Lazard and Company. merchant Government is determined to squeeze out the teaching of Indian bankers. who sponsored the Hayward Gallery exhibition: "We and other languages at universities?" have developed a growing interest in India and it was natural that Naseem Khan's group of lndian artistes in UK who in we were asked to contribute." His company was. responsible for company with Toor and other local Indians feel that thev have negotiating the massive British Government loan to finance the not been asked to make a useful contribution to the Festival Hall. made a lonely stand on the banks of the The gifts section at Selfridge's and, below, *isitors at the Hayward Gallery exhibition on Indian art ~h~~~~ outside the ~~~~i~~l~~11,one-. hundred doves (or perhaps piyeons) were released each standing for a working Indian artiste in Britain. Rising Discontent: Grouses in London are matched by rumblings of discontent in New Delhi. Last fortnight. revolt broke out in the ranks of some top-ranking lndian performing artistes who are slated to travel to London for concerts of music and dance when they discovered that.