Livia Manera Sambuy: “A lot of people didn’t want me to know what happened”

Each piece of memory is a piece of a mosaic. We need to collect stories, and we need to share them. That’s what storytellers are for.

The book delves into details that many authors might not have considered exploring. You made the connection between Albert Kahn and Rani’s story, looked at Khushwant Singh’s story history of sikhsand stories related to the extraction of diamonds which many English people considered imaginary. How important was documentation of each of these details?

When I began working on this book I understood that, while details about the life of the Queen of Mandi were scarce, something else was clear: she had intersected the lives of many important and interesting characters – the Alsatian banker and philanthropist Albert Kahn, the pioneering artist, Amrita Sher-Gil, the Russian guru-artist-entrepreneur, Nicholas Roerich, and the hero of the French Resistance, Jean Rosenthal, among others. I realized that I was looking at a very special group portrait as opposed to a portrait of a beautiful, ruined woman.

I found the way these lives evolved and intertwined with their tragic journeys fascinating. And I made a choice: my book would not be a straightforward biography, but the story of a quest – the discovery of Mandi’s Amrit Kaur, a princess who had been obscured by history and other forces. Through this exploration, it will also be a cross-cultural portrait of an era: the era of the end of the British Empire, the partition of India, and the tragedy of World War II in France.

Therefore, each story became important to me: from the story of great visionaries and utopists like Albert Kahn in Paris, who believed that encouraging knowledge of foreign cultures would lead people to practice tolerance, to the story of the Rosenthal brothers, the most important gem and pearl traders of that time, whose destinies were intertwined with those of several Indian princes.

This discovery of the queen of the market happened while you were mourning. How were you able to channel your energy into telling Amrit Kaur’s story?

Those were definitely tough years for me. I was grieving the loss of my brother; I separated from my husband; I started a new life in Paris just weeks before the 2008 financial crisis hit the world, which had serious consequences for my finances. But that didn’t stop me from being productive. I couldn’t afford to stay. While researching the life of Mandi’s Queen, I wrote and published another book (on profiles of American writers), and wrote and co-directed two documentary films about the American novelist Philip Roth. Not to mention my journalistic work as cultural reporter and literary critic for a major Italian daily newspaper, Corriere Della Sera.

At some point, I doubted I would ever find the truth about the story of the Queen of Mandi selling her jewels to help Jewish friends leave France during the German occupation and paying for her courage with her life. A lot of people didn’t want me to know what really happened. In the worst moments, what sustained me was my stubbornness and my commitment to Queenie’s daughter Bubbles, who, in her eighties, wanted to leave this world only after learning why her mother abandoned her in 1933, and was never talked about in her family again. To bring them closer and to show them, through some letters that I received, that the Queen wanted to return to her daughter and son, but greater forces prevented her, was a worthy reward for me.

That said, yes, there were moments when I became discouraged and thought I would never get to the bottom of this story. Mandi Ki Rani could have remained a footnote in history. But he did not do so. And giving her her due not only brought peace to her daughter, as I hope, but also brought peace to me, breaking the spell that had troubled me for years, and whose revelation at the end of the book is a surprise to the reader as well as to me.

Mandi Ki Rani could have been an iconic and iconic figure for LGBTQIA+ people. Given how a significant part of her personal life was hidden, intentionally or unintentionally, would you consider this an act that in some way derailed lesbian-feminist rights advocacy in India?

No, I won’t do that. It was a different era; We cannot judge it by today’s values. she was courageous in choosing to live more uxorio With the woman he loved – a white woman, an American, and a Protestant. And she was equally courageous in her refusal to compromise. He paid a very high price for his choices. But she was not an activist, and she was certainly not willing to sacrifice her privileges for the cause, as activists must.

You say that it never occurred to you that Anita Delgado might have played a role in sanctifying Queen’s past or in making it difficult to trace the threads of history related to Amrit Kaur. What other assumptions were challenged while exploring the undocumented life of Amrit Kaur?

I don’t think Anita Delgado had any interest in whitewashing the Queen’s past, and I don’t think she made it difficult to weave her history. Delgado also ran away from his Kapurthala marriage to live a life of freedom in Europe.

I had no notion of any kind regarding the life of the Queen of Mandi. I entered into this quest with an open mind. His life was surrounded by legends and mystery, and this troubled me too because there was so much hidden in it. If I had known that this was deliberately concealed, and that the reason involved not only his homosexuality but also family betrayal, I would have stayed away from the topic.

How did you demonstrate your ability to handle sensitive family-related information while researching and writing this book?

At your discretion. And to put loyalty to the queen’s daughter, Bubbles, first. No one else, and nothing, ultimately, matters. Not everyone was pleased, but it’s something you have to accept.

You informed Bubbles about the developments in her mother’s story. Were you in contact with anyone else in the family?

Well, if it weren’t for Bubbles this book wouldn’t exist. I was impressed by his intense need to understand why his mother disappeared in 1933. Bubbles is an extraordinary woman, probably the smartest and most open-minded person I have ever met. She survived many difficult blows with dignity, and I admired her deep will to never succumb to regrets. I was in touch with other family members: Sunny and his wife Leena helped in the beginning; Jack and Kshama Bilkha were always very welcoming to me. But the truth is that what really counted were the bubbles. She is now in her nineties and we still keep in touch.

Please talk about the time you spent working on Amrit Kaur’s story and the life of the book since it was published.

As I said, it was a very busy time. A new life in Paris, another book, two films, my journalism work, my two children going through adolescence. In a way, because of Bubbles’ involvement and because of the personal motivations that drew me to this story, which I share in the final chapter of the book, discovering the truth about the Queen of Mandi became an obsession. But this obsession ended with the publication of the book.

It was very rewarding to see that the UK launch of Daunt Books in London was attended by a huge, passionate audience – mostly young professionals of Indian origin. Or how Italian readers reacted to a story far beyond their cultural horizons. For the United States, two young American producers of Indian origin (from Sikh families of Punjab) are working on a project to bring the story to the screen. I don’t know whether they will succeed or not. But they are talented young women. I couldn’t ask for more. I wish him all the best.

What can organizations do to help writers who faced obstacles while working on Amrit Kaur’s story?

Organizations must ensure that archives are maintained and accessible. But archives are also repositories of truths, including unpleasant truths. I was struck by how, in Paris, Gendarmerie records relating to the arrest of 3,600 women and children with British passports in December 1940 – among them the Queen of Mandi – have reportedly disappeared in a fire. Perhaps because they were solid evidence of French collaboration with the Nazis?

I have encountered a lot of negligence in both France and India: emails are answered only after months, and with inconclusive replies, shaky vetoes, unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles, etc.

I would say that the model worth following is that of the British Library. The British have a lot to live up to regarding the times of empire. But I can hardly think of a richer and more efficient place for a writer to work than the British Library in London. At least, this was my experience.

Saurabh Sharma is a Delhi-based writer and freelance journalist. She can be found on Instagram/X: @writerly_life.