BRUSH STROKES: Suchi Chidambaram

Such a long journey

“It’s very competitive,” concurs Suchi, who came to Britain after marriage eight years ago and fits in her painting in between looking after her daughter.

Among her works, on display at the Nehru Centre, were a couple which reminded me a little of Monet’s Water Lilies.

“I do like impressionism though I like to add a little bit of abstract,” says Suchi who went to school at Kodaikanal near Madurai, trained in Tanjore paintings under the south Indian master, Shiv Kumar, and learnt abstract landscapes from another senior artist, K.C. Murukesan.

She also studied fashion design at the National Institute of Fashion Design and completed an internship programme with the designer Amanda Wakeley in London. But all this was much “too restricting” for her and Suchi has returned to her real love ? painting.

Since her surname already happened to be Chidambaram, she did not have to change it after marriage. Her husband’s father and P. Chidambaram are first cousins, she explains. Apparently, there are nine separate temples to whom the Chidambaram clan owe their allegiance. And no, there is no history of art in either family, “although my mother is quite artistic. As a young child I was always interested in painting.”

“For the last few years I have been concentrating on oil painting, and inspiration has drawn me to landscape, the sea and views of cities,” she says.

After the Nehru Centre, she goes on to exhibit her work at the Affordable Arts Fair in Battersea.

Perhaps now is the time to stock up on Suchi’s early period while she is still affordable.

DOWN MEMORY LANE: Madhur Jaffrey

No hard feelings

The celebrated cookery writer and actress Madhur Jaffrey has apparently done something she has never done before.

“She has actually mentioned Saeed for the first time,” says Jennifer Jaffrey, a casting agent in London who is married to the veteran actor, Saeed Jaffrey.

Madhur, who had three daughters with Saeed before they divorced, lives in New York with her second husband, the jazz violinist Sanford Allen.

In her idyllic account of her Indian childhood, Climbing the Mango Tree, Madhur referred to a boyfriend without revealing his name was Saeed Jaffrey. The book has just come out in paperback.

Jennifer is gratified that Saeed gets a mention in an interview Madhur, now 72, has given to promote her paperback.

“I had met Saeed Jaffrey before leaving India,” says Madhur. “We worked together in radio and theatre, but his acting scholarship took him to New York. Once I had graduated, I joined him there and we married. Our three daughters were born soon afterwards. Nothing was planned; it felt right at the time but it was a mistake and by my mid-twenties, I was divorced. It took me several years to get over it but I have no regrets. We learn from our experiences.”

Jennifer comments: “All these years, she could not bring herself to say his name. She behaved as though Saeed did not exist. Which is odd because she has been happy to keep his name.”

This appears not to be a case of the second wife bitching about the first. Years ago, when the BBC was looking for a presenter to front a cookery series, Jennifer recommended Madhur ? “which she no longer acknowledges”. Thanks to the initial recommendation from Bibi No 2, Bibi No 1 has “gone on to become a millionairess”.

Royal snapper

There was a time, especially during my Daily Mail days, when photographers used to refer to us reporters, part jokingly, as their “caption writers” ? which, in many cases, we were.

Anwar Hussein and I never actually worked for the same paper but I would not have minded being his caption writer. With a name like Anwar Hussein, it was not always easy for him to deal with the complicated social protocol surrounding Buckingham Palace. But he had one quality working in his favour. He was probably the best photographer of his generation.

He came to Britain from East Africa, the son of a father who was born in Sialkot in pre-partition India. On trips abroad ? we were on ones with Diana to Italy, the Middle East and to India ? he would help out the less experienced photographers, advising them what lens or aperture to use.

Over the years, Anwar has provided the photographs for many books on the royal family, though he now likes to spend more time with his family on his own estate near Bath or his vineyard in France.

When Prince Charles brings the Duchess of Cornwall for her first visit to India from March 26-31, the royal couple will be accompanied by about 25 British reporters, television crew and snappers, among them Anwar. As the grand daddy of British royal photographers, he is probably the most distinguished member of the press party ? and should be treated by his hosts as royalty.

ROOM WITH A VIEW: Gulam Noon

Making room

Fans of Pakistani cricket ? and indeed cricket lovers in India as well ? will be delighted by the disclosure that they will soon have their own room at the Oval in south London.

The Pakistan Room will be slightly smaller than the India Room, which was inaugurated last summer by Sachin Tendulkar.

Shortly after that, the Indian food millionaire Sir Gulam Noon ? he donated ?100,000 of the ?500,000 needed for the India Room ? encouraged his Pakistani business friends to follow the example of the Indians.

Happily, they have done so, with Sir Anwar Pervez, head of the Bestway retail group, making a generous contribution towards the ?350,000 required to establish the Pakistan Room. I understand it will be formally opened during the England-Pakistan Test match at the Oval from August 17-21.

The Pakistan Room will have photographs of the greats of Pakistani cricket ? among others, I nominate Fazal Mahmood, Abdul Hafeez Kardar, Hanif Mohammad, Zaheer Abbas, Majid Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Mushtaq Ahmed, Imran Khan, Abdul Qadir, Javed Miandad, Inzamam-ul Haq and Shoaib Akhtar.

My friend, Shahed Sadullah, of the Daily Jang, says the one cricketer he wouldn’t leave out is Asif Iqbal.

Noon, meanwhile, has given Surrey ?18,000 to fund a short tour of its players to Mumbai from March 25-April 3 before the English county season begins.

There is currently a controversy raging about peerages. But, in my opinion, Noon deserves his nomination, not least for services to cricket.

And how do we know the English cricket season is about to begin?

Easy.

It’s been snowing in parts of the country.

Tittle tattle

Challenged by new technology, newspapers may become a thing of the past, predicts one Rupert Murdoch.

This seems unlikely while there are columns such as the one called “Sleeping Around” by Caroline Townend in The Independent. She says that it is not only women who fake orgasms in bed. She describes, with engaging honesty, how her new boyfriend has been doing it, too. I know New India is full of New Indian Women Writers but somehow I don’t think we have got quite this far ? yet.