Photograph of Indian suffragettes on the Women’s Coronation Procession of June 17, 1911. (Copyright: Museum of London)

It was surreal. Bipasha’s Beedi played in the background. Not in a bylane of Brick Lane. Not in Mayfair’s Bar Bollywood. It was burning the front foyer of the historic Museum of London, providing the right fire to Out of India — an exhibition showcasing a subcontinent’s influence on London.

Wafts of Beedi also floated towards the gallery area, where the 1666 disaster London’s Burning was being showcased in another exhibition. So much heat!

Out of India, a three-month display that got over in September was part of the India Now festival, where India took centre stage all summer. It also marks the 60th anniversary of Indian Independence.

“With Out of India, we tried to appeal to the south Asian community here in London. We also wanted to get in first-time visitors and general audience,” said Jackie Keily, a curator of the exhibition. The display took a “little over six months” to put together. With the lower galleries closed for refurbishment, the only area available was the foyer. While Jackie and team felt crunched for space, the crisp display still packed in quite a punch — or puff.

“We wanted to really use our own objects for the exhibition, rather than borrow,” explained Jackie. The team adopted a thematic approach. And India’s influence was split into seven — clothing, food, working lives, beliefs, politics, entertainment and language. Photographs, paintings, textiles, graphics and objects got together to tell the Indian story of London, to London.

There were lots of interactive tidbits for visitors. They could tune into Pandit Ravi Shankar or quickly shimmy to Punjabi Hit Squad featuring Ms Scandalous. They could listen to Damini Mohindra talk about her sari business in London or admire Pakistani designer Raishma Islam’s navy blue outfit on display. They could guess Indian spices by their aroma or feel the texture of Indian textiles. They could fiddle with old instruments like manjira and ghungroos, brought all the way from Calcutta, or flip through old Indian comics. The kids could also learn how to draw mehndi (or “henna tattoos”).

The visuals were fascinating. Old pictures of Green Street, Upton Park could just be out of Delhi’s Chandni Chowk. The antique paisley shawl made in Scotland looks so much like a Kashmiri piece. But the best pieces were found on the shores of the Thames — an old diya, a small Ganesh idol and two astrological plaques. Someone had immersed it, like they would in the Ganges, and years later it found pride of place at the Museum of London.