In the eyes of the lord

India by Snowdon
Anthony Snowdon
The Nand and jeet Khemka foundation
* Rs 5,000 * pp 210

White wine at 4.30 pm at Jhandewalan, a stone’s throw from the RSS headquarters? If you are Anthony Snowdon — Lord Snowdon — it seems like just the right thing to do. ‘Marvellous’ seems to be a favourite word of the man whose hedonistic lifestyle as the husband of Britain’s Princess Margaret once made headlines.

In India, to promote his book on Indian public personalities and to be at the launch of the exhibition marking its publication, Snowdon, now wheelchair-bound (all the photos in the fabulous India by Snowdon were taken from the wheelchair) is animated when he talks about the famous people he met and sparred with.

He will not be pinned down to one person who made a huge impression on him. Instead, he says that he finds himself to be the most interesting person he has met — and then goes on to say that he has never taken a good photograph yet.

It is when he warms up to the great celebrities of his time that Snowdon comes into his own. He never really studied photography beyond a week, studying natural sciences at Cambridge instead and then moving on to the British royal family with which he had very close interactions for several years. Of the pictures he has taken in his lifetime, ballet dancers feature significantly — Anna Pavlova, Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Barshnikov. His former wife, Margaret, was hugely fond of ballet.

Prince Charles — and again that word ‘marvellous’ comes in — is, according to him, a much misunderstood person who cares a lot about people. Which brings us to Princess Diana. “Beautiful, much loved,” is his take.

Despite ill-health, Snowdon has survived several trips to India. “I just bring Marmite with me,” he says. And he loves South India. “All Indians have actually such elegance, such style. We Brits can learn a lot from Indians.”

His grandfather had a degree as a ‘Master in Lunacy’ in 1890 and managed to save someone who thought he had an eel in his stomach by putting the poor gent under, buying an eel from the fishmonger and then showing him the ‘result’ after he recovered from the ‘procedure’. The man was cured.

Snowdon speaks of Katharine Hepburn, who he says was asked by an importunate journalist, “What is star quality?” to which she replied in her smoky voice, “I don’t know, but I sure got it.” Of Joan Collins, the great photographer is a little dismissive. He photographed her eating a banana and when asked why he says, “You guess.”

Snowdon doesn’t quite tell us all the things that he knows. But the little he reveals is more than enough for those tired of instant celebrities.

The exhibition, ‘India by Snowdon’ is on at Photoink (011-2875 5940),
1 Jhandewalan Faiz Road,
New Delhi 110005.
11 am-7 pm (closed on Sunday)
till January 30