The Mahatma might have gone on a hunger strike in protest. And his arch-adversary Churchill would have sided with him, declaring it a piece of impertinence up with which he would not put. The two would have been joined by a stellar cast, including Charlie Chaplin, Marlon Brando, and Vivien Leigh.
The reason for their collective umbrage? The threatened closure by Britain’s Crown Estate of London’s most venerable and venerated Indian restaurant, the Michelin-rated Veeraswamy, which is currently celebrating its centenary. The iconic restaurant — which has hosted international celebrities from the realms of politics, filmdom, and other halls of fame — faces being ousted from its premises in the historic Victoria House on Regent Street by the Crown Estate, a collection of land and assets worth some £16 bn belonging to the British monarch.
