First the empire disappeared (except for four things like Gibraltar, Ascension Island, the Malvinas and Diego García), and then the restaurant. The empire is the British one, to the dismay of the many nostalgic for the old glories that remain in the United Kingdom (among them, the supporters of Brexit), and the restaurant is the India Club, to the regret of the community of the Asian subcontinent in the English capital, and of the many Londoners who came to have a good curry and a Cobra beer at a reasonable price, among black and white historical photos of Gandhi, Nehru and Mountbatten, the last viceroy.
This is not the place to delve into the decline and fall of the British Empire, but the case of the restaurant is simpler: real estate speculation. Its location at 143 Strand, just opposite the Indian embassy and the former BBC World Service studios, is going to become a luxury boutique hotel (one more). An earlier attempt by its owners, an investment group, was halted by Westminster City Council after receiving 26,000 petitions calling for the India Club to be saved for its historical and cultural significance. But the second time was the charm.
The closing date is the 17th of this month, and the establishment has never been so full. The news of its imminent disappearance has caused an avalanche of reservations from its regulars and from those who have never been there and want to see in person its chandeliers, shelves, mirrors, clocks and wooden chairs from three quarters of a century ago, as if time would not have passed. It is an iconic place, one of London’s best kept secrets. You ascend through a narrow staircase that leads to the Strand Continental hotel (with single rooms for 80 euros and shared triples for 40 euros, a miracle in the center), on the first floor is the bar, and on the second, the restaurant. The opposite of chic, with dilapidated furniture, Formica tables, correct food although not Michelin starred, but history and legend to give and take.
India’s independence was formalized in 1947, and in 1951 the India Club was created by the country’s first ambassador in London (a politician from the south of the country named V.K. Krishna Menon) and members of the India League, a nationalist movement that then had almost thirty years old and, once the separation was achieved, it intended to foster bilateral relations as cordial as possible. Other than that, the community in the Asian country needed a place to come together with an atmosphere similar to a Bombay cafe in the sixties, and eat dosas, pakaras, chicken butter, daal and other delicacies that they were used to. Because now in London there are countless restaurants from all over and of the highest level, but at that time you could only eat in pubs, fish and chips, some Greek or Italian.
Among the founders and original clients of the India Club were, in addition to the ambassador and all his subordinates, Nehru (first head of Government after independence) and his friend Lady Mountbatten, wife of the last viceroy, with whom he had a close, apparently platonic relationship. . (Gandhi, assassinated in 1948, did not have a chance). The walls are lined with vintage photos of all of them, as well as Dadabhai Naoroji (the first Indian-born Member of the House of Commons), the writer Bertrand Russell and other figures from politics and literature. For more than seven decades it has been a favorite gathering place for journalists, writers, judges and lawyers (the courts are three minutes away), the scene of baptisms and birthdays, and meetings of the Calcutta Rowing Club, the Curry Club , the Indian Socialist Group, the Indian Workers’ Association, the Goa Association and other bilateral organizations.
The restaurant has had cult personalities such as legendary chef Ramalingam, maitre d’ Joseph and a bar lady who arrogated to herself – apart from serving gin and tonics – the responsibility of deciding when a patron had had too much to drink and was time to call him a taxi, give him the bill and send him home. A role that was taken completely seriously.
The United Kingdom is dying of jealousy of India for its economic power, international influence and the fact that it has sent a mission to the Moon. The India Club was a tribute to nostalgia and a reminder of the last days of the empire. Soon there won’t be even that.
