Once upon a time there was a King
Sartaj Chaudhary
About three miles from Canterbury is a shooting club — Greenfields, of which I am a member. Greenfields is set in just over a hundred acres of lush green grounds, there are about 20 shooting stands — replicating Pheasant, Partridge, Quail, Rabbit and Teal shooting. The club was established in 1805, it has been with the Greenfield family since 1926. Alan and Richard, both country gentlemen have been shooting here since 1947! The club has a warm and close-knit atmosphere. Its always great to be there, especially when the weather is nice – which is not very often!
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Sometimes back, I heard news that Greenfields was being sold. I didn’t quite believe it, but these ‘blokes’ said it with such conviction, “Haven’t ya heard, mate? They ’ve sold it! Good dosh too! 35 Mil. A new housin’ development comin’ up ’ere soon!” Well, made sense. Canterbury could do with more houses, it all fell into place! After a few days, I went to Greenfields. I hesitantly asked Mr Greenfield, “So… How long can we hope to keep shooting here Tim?” Tim laughed and said, “So the news’ has reached Taj too!”He lit his pipe and said to me, “God knows who came up with it, but the rumour is spreading like wild fire! There is not even an ounce of truth in it! Greenfields will not be sold, not at least in my lifetime!” I was delighted to hear that!
It is funny how rumours like these, spring out of nowhere. Is it a certain class/group of people who are creative enough to ‘weave’ such stories? Perhaps! There is a thin line between rumours and conspiracy theories. While studying law at the University of Kent, in a ‘terrorism’ class, a student with certainty that America had ‘self-inflicted’ 9/11. Our professor, Dr Blakeley, an expert on terrorism, made it clear that very day, “You are post-graduate Law students; I do not expect rubbish like this from you!” Funny can some people be! Like, “Someone must know where the Malaysia Airlines Plane is – Planes have Radars!” And, “It was the Royal Family that got Lady Diana killed!”
It is ‘believed’ that Concorde used to fly the Shah of Persia’s caviar from Paris to Tehran on a daily basis. The only problem with that? The best caviar in the world comes from Iran! And that, Nehru’s clothes were sent to London for ironing! Again, the problem with that? India had airplanes to fly Nehru’s laundry to London but no iron presses, hard to believe!
My favourite is the one about Rolls Royce and Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, although I’ve heard variations too! The story goes like this…. “Maharaja Bhupinder Singh was staying in London. Casually dressed in a chaadra he happened to pass the Rolls Royce showroom. He looked at the cars from the outside, he liked them. He went inside and asked the salesman, ‘How much for this one here?’ The salesman, thinking that the Maharaja was a poor Indian wasting his time, misbehaved with the Maharaja and asked him to leave. The Maharaja left, came back with his men and chequebook. He bought a dozen (buying a dozen Rolls Royces in one go – even for the Maharaja would have meant serious financial trouble!) Rolls Royces and shipped them to Patiala. The cars were then used for collecting rubbish! This went on until Rolls Royce sent one of their representatives to Patiala to apologise to the Maharaja. And shipped the cars back to the UK!”
Now, the story seems perfectly plausible, given the Maharaja’s extravagant lifestyle apart from the fact that…
n The Maharaja would have never stayed in London incognito. There was so much press coverage when theMaharaja was visiting. The roads leading to the Savoy were blocked as the 20 odd Rolls-Royce Cavalcade of the Maharaja rolled into the porch of the hotel. Not to mention the truckloads of Polo and cricket kits that followed the motorcade!
n The Maharaja was one giant of a man – both physically (standing at almost 6 and a half feet!) and metaphorically speaking! One would have to be quite… quite dim (even more so for a Rolls Royce salesman!) to mistake the Maharaja for a poor Indian!
n The Maharaja would, under no circumstances, whatsoever, be walking the streets of London alone! Certainly not in a chaadra! He was always immaculately dressed! And his ADC, body-guards, advisers and of course the host staff would always accompany the Maharaja wherever he would go!
n The Maharaja was well aware of the manufacturer. He had been chauffeured around in a Roller from the age of about 10! We are talking about the man who was the first Indian to own an aircraft in the very early years of the 20th century! He was smitten with the Rolls — his collection of over two-dozen cars was no coincidence!
n Rolls Royce had well-established showrooms in both Bombay and Delhi (Kashmere Gate) and cars were not ‘shipped’ to India by the buyers! The Maharajas never went to the showroom; the showroom came to the Maharaja!
Men of lineage and pedigree know how to appreciate the finer things in life. And Boy did The Maharaja appreciate beauty and perfection? Be it cars, planes, horses, women (In fact he appreciated beauty so much that he had 300 wives, not to mention the ladies of the harem) or jewellery. Insulting the epitome of engineering and craftsmanship as such? It simply cannot be expected from a person of his breed and upbringing! The simple truth is, that this ‘story’ is rubbish! It is simply whimsical! All research suggests that there is not even a single drop of truth in it!
The Maharaja had a larger than life image. No wonder such stories revolve around his persona. Living in Chail as schoolchildren we were often told how the Maharaja ‘eloped with the Viceroy’s daughter’ in 1892! He was hence banished from Shimla and decided to set up his summer capital in Chail.
Now, an interesting story! Perfectly plausible apart from the fact that: by 1892, the British were very much in control of India and at the helm of power. In fact, Queen Victoria was proclaimed the Empress of India in 1876. The Maharaja wasn’t out of bounds, simply by hopping to Chail! The British ruled the whole of India and not just Shimla!
Maharaja Bhupinder Singh was an extraordinary man by all accounts, but there is no way on earth he could have eloped with a girl in 1892 because he was only one year old at the time!
The Maharaja’s full name with titles was: Lieutenant-General His Highness Farzand-i-Khas-i-Daulat-i-Inglishia, Mansur-i-Zaman, Amir ul-Umara, Maharajadhiraja Raj Rajeshwar, 108 Sri Maharaja-e-Rajgan, Maharaja Sir Bhupinder Singh, Mahendra Bahadur, Yadu Vansha Vatans Bhatti Kul Bushan, Maharaja of Patiala, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, GBE, GCSG.
Had the Maharaja eloped with the British Viceroy’s daughter, the name would have been slightly shorter – without the English titles!
Well, as long as these rumours do no harm to anyone, there’s nothing wrong with a bit of gossip! People need entertainment, some sort of it! Here in the UK, I ’ve seen many elderly men and ladies with dementia, depression and other such illnesses. We may not have the best healthcare in India, but the people in the villages have a cure for such diseases – the cure is called ‘chugliyaan’ (gossiping)!
