V&A celebration of swinging sexties

Half a century has passed since Time magazine described London as the centre of the "swinging Sixties", with carefree sex encouraged by the arrival of the contraceptive pill.

This is considered the right time for the Victoria and Albert Museum to mount its latest exhibition, You Say You Want A Revolution? Records and Rebels 1966-1970 - this opened to the public yesterday and will run until February 26, 2017.

The opening lines from Philip Larkin's poem, Annus Mirabilis, are emblazoned in bold in the exhibition: "Sexual intercourse began/ In nineteen sixty-three/ (which was rather late for me)/ Between the end of the Chatterley ban/ And the Beatles' first LP."

Also featured are the iconic black-and-white contact photographs by Lewis Morley of good-time girl Christine Keeler, who triggered the Harold Macmillan government's downfall. This was because Britain's minister for war, Jack Profumo, first told the Commons that he hadn't had sexual intercourse with Keeler before returning and admitting that he had. The apoplectic Daily Mirror headline from the time is also highlighted.

Going round the exhibition, I looked at the hundreds of exhibits (covering everything from The Beatles and the Rolling Stones to Vidal Sasoon's hair styling, the mini skirt and Carnaby Street fashion and the political rebellion over the Vietnam War), and listened to introductory talks by the curators.

I bought a copy of the catalogue that sets out the basic philosophy of the whole project: "In the latest 1960s rebellion was in the air - and on the streets. Through the music, fashion, design and rebels that mattered, You Say You Want a Revolution? looks at how the ideas that dominate our world today - environmentalism, consumerism, individualism and mass communication - took root in the 1960s and asks "where do we go from here?"

The exhibition's major sponsor is Levi's which, according to the brand, "has always been associated with youth culture, new ideas, rebellion and individuality".

One name stood out among those who have worn Levi's - Elvis Presley.

Indian note

India had a tangential input into the music revolution through Ravi Shankar's association with George Harrison of The Beatles. A couple of the sitar maestro's record covers are on display - and so is Harrison's sitar. There are images from Woodstock, where Ravi Shankar had played in 1969.

I recall when I interviewed him for the first time, Pandit ji expressed irritation that his Americans fans had felt it necessary to take drugs since "my music itself should be like a drug".

Also on display are a bronze Hindu deity and a saffron Hare Krishna outfit.

One of the curators, Geoffrey Marsh, dressed in an Indian shirt and khadi-ish waistcoat, told me: "We are asking anyone who travelled to India during the 1960s to turn up on November 27."

He didn't say whether free love is on the menu.

Luxe branding

Many of Britain's luxury brands, which view India as the next big market, held an open day last week at the headquarters of the Royal Institution in Albemarle Street, Mayfair - the venue is normally used for science lectures.

The occasion was organised by Walpole, "a unique alliance of 170 of Britain's finest luxury brands, including Burberry, Alexander McQueen, Rolls- Royce Motor Cars, Boodles, Harrods and Jimmy Choo", "worth £32 billion to the British economy", and WGSN, "the world's leading trends authority".

At the open day were representatives of Cliveden in Berkshire, now a luxury hotel, but which was once the seat of the Astor family. This was where Jack Profumo met Christine Keeler - and where frisky Pakistani President Ayub Khan was invited to cross the line of control with the pretty young things who swam nude.

From Scotland, we had Gleneagles Hotel and Walkers shortbread. There was Fortnum and Mason, the department store; Molton Brown personal care products; Aurelia probiotic skincare; a new gin called Half Hitch; leather goods from Ettinger; shoes by Aruna Seth; paper products from G.F. Smith; and Savoir Beds, whose customised beds made from horse hair can cost £57,000.

Earlier, we heard from Mark Henderson, chairman of Gieves & Hawkes, Savile Row tailors, and from Richard Carter, director of global communications at Rolls-Royce, "one of the most prestigious brands in the world".

Carter commented that "we are incredibly selective" when entering partnerships with other brands, and when it comes to sales, "we are not seeking volume".

That said, everyone I know in the Indian community from the Hindujas to Lord Swraj Paul, Kartar Lalvani and Rami Ranger has a Rolls for everyday use. Many keep a top-of-the-range Jaguar for special occasions.

Partition love

A note on Radhika Swarup's novel, Where the River Parts, which was published earlier this year in the UK by Sandstone Press, and is being brought out in India by Rupa on September 15.

In her novel, Asha falls in love with Firoze in pre-Partition India and cannot understand why he won't talk to her father since the two families are so close. He said baldly, "I'm Muslim. You're Hindu. That's the problem."

As a schoolgirl, Radhika had witnessed mob violence from very close quarters at the family residence in Karachi where her father, Rajiv Dogra, was posted as Indian consul-general, during the Babri Masjid demolition of 1992.

Radhika, now settled in the UK, had heard of some of the horrors of Partition from family members since her father's side had lived in Lyallpur, now in Pakistan, but arrived in India as refugees in 1947.

"I heard of fear, violence, cowardice; some of the basest emotions in our canon," says Radhika. "I also heard endless stories of generosity, goodwill and friendship that my family continues to hold dear to its heart."

She adds that "much of this colour is woven into Where the River Parts, but the fact that gives me the greatest hope today, as much of Europe struggles with a new, seemingly endless influx of refugees, is the knowledge that the best instincts of humanity can survive the greatest trials."

Business buzz

Business books can be readable and exciting as demonstrated once again by this year's shortlist for the "Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year".

The "six most influential business books of 2016" include: What Works: Gender Equality by Design by Iris Bohnet; Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built by Duncan Clark; Makers and Takers: The Rise of Finance and the Fall of American Business by Rana Foroohar; The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The US Standard of Living Since the Civil War by Robert J. Gordon; The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity by Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott; and The Man Who Knew: The Life and Times of Alan Greenspan by Sebastian Mallaby.

Will the outgoing RBI governor write a revenge sequel? Raghuram Rajan won in 2010 with Fault Lines .

Tittle tattle

There was one quote I felt I had to jot down at the V&A revolution exhibition.

It was from black civil rights leader Stokely Carmichael outside the UN on April 15, 1967, protesting against the Vietnam War. He condemned the draft as "white people sending black people to make war on yellow people to defend land they stole from Red people".