Old-World Charm

In many ways, Queen Elizabeth II was more than the institution she represented

- Amish Tripathi

There is certainly sadness on the streets of London. Many people are reacting to that sponta-neously, which shows the affection and respect they had for Queen Elizabeth II.

We were actually in the middle of a programme at the Nehru Centre when the news came. There were senior people in attendance, including industrialist Sunil Kant Munjal and former chief economic adviser K.V. Subramanian, who will soon be India’s executive director at the International Monetary Fund. We quickly had a word with all of them and felt it was inappropriate to carry on. We ended with a minute of silence.

There were a few Britons in the audience, as well as a former high commissioner of the UK to India. But it was largely an Indian audience. An audience that had just discussed how disastrous the British Raj was.