CUP THAT CHEERS: Kapil Dev and Mohinder Amarnath with the 1983 World Cup

Tandoori nights and Bombay dreams

London being the capital of Greater India, it is worth recalling some of the highs and lows experienced by Indians in the UK in this, the 60th year of independence. Indians have been coming to these shores for centuries but the population, from being quite small in 1947, has now grown to an estimated 1.5 million. Today, it is possible to have a pick of 10 Indian events to attend on any evening in London but it was not always thus.

Here is a random selection of Indian landmarks over the past six decades:

1966
Reita Faria becomes the first Indian woman to win Miss World, the organisation which retains its London headquarters. She dumps her dull Indian boyfriend, becomes a doctor, marries an Irishman, settles in Dublin and goes on to produce two children and five grandchildren. She is followed by Aishwarya Rai (1994), Diana Hayden (1997), Yookta Mookhey (1999) and Priyanka Chopra (2000), none of whom has children, as far as I know, let alone grandchildren.

1966
BBC icon Mahendra Kaul, a distinguished Kashmiri, brings the first tandoori oven to his restaurant, Gaylord, in Mortimer Street. The English palate is subverted for ever. Kaul still has enough time to present his flagship TV programme, Apna Hi Ghar Samjhiye (Consider This Your Home), which becomes Naye Zindagi, Naya Jeevan (New Life).

1972
35,000 Indians expelled by Idi Amin arrive as refugees, start corner shops that stay open late and, in time, completely overhaul Britain’s lacklustre economic landscape. Uganda’s loss is the UK’s gain.

1976
Gurdip Singh Chaggar, a 17-year-old Sikh boy, is the victim of a terrible racist murder in Southall. Indians decide to fight back. One result is that Tara, a theatre company, is formed, and begins with a Tagore play, Sacrifice. The children of Tara go on to form the Tamasha Theatre Company.

1979
Immigration officers at Heathrow, pervs some of them, conduct “virginity tests” to assess whether incoming Indian brides are really who the young women claim to be. Tests dropped after outcry and after many women have suffered untold humiliation. Today, all this beggars belief.

1982
After 20 years of trying, Richard Attenborough releases Gandhi, from which the world now takes its knowledge of the Mahatma. This goes on to take eight Oscars, including Best Director for (now Lord) Attenborough and Best Actor for (now Sir) Ben Kingsley, who played Gandhi. A few quibble but this is surely one of the great films of all time.

1983
West Indies blow it, scoring only 140 against India’s 183 at Lord’s in the World Cup final. Kapil Dev holds aloft cup as millions of firecrackers burst in India literally at the stroke of midnight hour. A truly fantastic moment.

1984
Jagjit Singh Chauhan, self-styled “president of Khalistan”, tells the BBC after Operation Bluestar that “within a few days you will have the news that Mrs Gandhi and her family has (sic) been beheaded”. There is outrage at the remark when she is assassinated. Chauhan returns home in 2001 after 21 years in exile and dies quietly in his native village in Punjab more or less at peace with himself and with India on April 4, 2007.

1987
At last, there’s an Indian in the House of Commons — Keith Vaz wins Leicester East for Labour and begins preparing to raise the racist treatment of Shilpa Shetty on Celebrity Big Brother though this would not come for 20 years.

1995
This is me being characteristically big-headed but after an Indian businessman has invited me to his “get to know you” party, I reveal that the said gentleman, who has transferred from Indonesia, will, according to sources, become the richest Indian in the UK. As usual I am wrong. Lakshmi Mittal spites me by becoming the richest Indian in the world, picking up the most expensive private residence on the way. He also organises a big fat Indian wedding in Paris for his daughter but the French refuse to let him buy the palace at Versailles. In retaliation, he buys Arcelor.

2001
Two Indian restaurants in London, Tamarind and Zaika, each receive the ultimate accolade of a Michelin star, which represents a formal recognition of the rise and rise of Indian cuisine. But Bangladeshis, who have slaved in thousands of little “Indian” curry houses, should get the credit for laying the groundwork.

2002
Brand Bollywood starts going global with the opening of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, Bombay Dreams, at the Apollo Theatre, Victoria. Music is by A.R. Rahman, packed crowds by Indians. This was great fun. However, Lloyd Webber was inspired, shall we say, by Tamasha’s successful adaptation of Hum Aapke Hain Kaun which preceded Bombay Dreams.

2007
Shilpa Shetty wins Celebrity Big Brother, gives Keith Vaz his moment in history, grants audience to Tony Blair, gifts a sample of her new perfume, S ², to the Queen, and insists she is a good Indian girl, which, of course, she is.

2007
Bangalore boys bring shame to India.

2007(August 6)
The Indian women’s team, including Dola Banerji from Baranagar, Calcutta, beats China and England to win the historic MCC Archery Cup at Lord’s. And the Indian men’s team? Sadly, the Adams flop.