Former royalty follow their hearts into new domains

By Madhusree Chatterjee, New Delhi, March 15 : Once the leaders of the people, many of the erstwhile Indian royalty who lost their standing post independence have now become followers of their hearts as they have broadened their role as protectors of India's heritage, culture and even human rights.

Meet Manvendra Singh Gohil, the gay prince of Rajpipla, a small estate in Gujarat founded in 1370 AD.

The tall and reedy maharaja, clad in a purple and gold sherwani, sports a vermillion 'tilak' on his forehead. "I juggle multiple roles. I am trying to revive the harmonium as a solo genre instead of an accompaniment to vocal music," Gohil told IANS.

The prince manages an hour of 'riyaz' (practice) every day when he is "not practising yoga and campaigning for gay rights with the help of his Lakshya Trust, a platform rallying for gay rights".

"I have identified land for the country's first old age home for gay men in my kingdom and work on the structure is about to begin. I provide 20 old men in Baroda with healthcare and medical counselling. They will stay in the home once it is structurally complete," Gohil said. He has moved the Gujarat government for help.

Gohil was one of the 50 members of an elite entourage from at least 30 former royal families across India who converged upon the historic Hotel Imperial in the capital after 99 years for a reunion Saturday evening.

For royal "Dr Dinosaur" Aaliya Sultana Babi, queen of Balasinor in Gujarat's Khera district, "life changed the day in 1981 when dinosaur fossils were discovered in her village, Raiyoli". She soon became an amateur paleontologist.

"The village belonged to my grandfather and is now the third largest pre-historic fossil site in India protected by the Geological Survey of India," Aaliya, whose grandaunt was the famous Bollywood actress Parveen Babi, told IANS.

"Between 1982 and 1997, no one bothered about the fossils, but after the GSI took it up, I volunteered to preserve the fossils for posterity and add it as a tourist attraction for visitors to our heritage resort in Balasinor," she said. She is now helping the Gujarat tourism department set up a museum at the site.

Similarly, 'Kavrani' (queen) Bhibuthi Singh of Jubbal, an erstwhile hill principality, manages a heritage resort at Gondal in Gujarat with her husband. It is regarded as one of the best cultural repositories in the country.

"Gondal was given as a dowry gift to my grandmother. We have turned it into a culture and hospitality resort," she told IANS.

The former royalty of India have adjusted remarkably to the changed scenario, royal historian and international director of Asian Art at Christie's, Amin Jaffer, who has written three books on former Indian royalty, told IANS.

"Many of them have become hoteliers, businessmen, heritage conservationists and politicians. India has seen big changes during the 1950s and 1960s - which were complicated. But each of the royal houses has become milestones of built heritage and Indian culture. It is almost like what I have seen in Germany, where the royalty faced similar issues," he said.

But the gentry now wants to step beyond the cultural boundary.

Tikka Shatrujit Singh Ahluwalia, the prince of the erstwhile royal family of Kapurthala in Punjab, feels that the "erstwhile kings should be used as cultural ambassadors, diplomats and governors by the government". "I am currently building public opinion in the state for teaching the history of Kapurthala in schools across Punjab," he said.

Behind the royal mask lie the real men and women, said Shibani Sharma Khanna, channel head of NDTV Good Times and the creative head of the television's lifestyle channel.

"Some have diverse passions and hobbies. We want to bring these men and women from the erstwhile palaces of India to the common people," Khanna, whose channel played host to the royals in Delhi to recreate a slice of its programme, "Royal Reservation", told IANS.