Delhiwale: At home, Nony Singh’s Mahal

88-year-old artist Nony Singh recalls her painting, now returned to her, which depicts Jaipur's Jal Mahal and has a unique backstory.

Shy of revealing her age, 88-year-old Nony Singh remembers finishing Blue Painting “around the time of President Kennedy’s assassination.” The oil painting hangs in a balcony-facing corner of the artist’s residence in Vasant Vihar.

The oil painting hangs in a balcony-facing corner of the artist’s residence in Vasant Vihar. (HT Photo)

Since Nony Singh doesn’t sell her work, all of it has always been in her possession. The Blue Painting is an exception, coloured with an unusual story. In the winter of 2021, one of Nony Singh’s four daughters received an e-mail from a stranger in England. It sparked off a correspondence—common friends were mentioned, long-ago events recalled. While the e-mails tell of the aforementioned artwork, they also unwittingly summon a sense of the era when people wrote polite letters, patiently waited for replies, before writing again. Edited excerpts.

Dear Dayanita (if I may),I have in my flat in Putney, south-west London, a painting of the Golden Temple in Amritsar, with ‘Nony Singh’ written on the reverse of the canvas. The painting is in blue and grey, the framing is minimalistic. It came to us from old family friends, Bani and Peter, who once lived in India. I wonder if the painting is by your mother? Any information would be gratefully received.Kind regards,Simon

Dear Simon,How amazing. The painting is by my mother. It is not Amritsar’s Golden Temple, but a palace in Jaipur. Here’s my mother’s recollection: “The painting was shown in an exhibition. It also appeared in a newspaper. One day, Peter and Bani, who were visiting our house, noticed the painting, and both loved it instantly. Papa being always generous urged them to have it. They were hesitant. I too then insisted, asking them to accept it as a present.”Best wishes,Dayanita

Dear Dayanita,I think my parents must have later bought the painting from Bani and Peter when the two were leaving Indonesia for Singapore.Best wishes,Simon

Dear Simon,Mother is chuffed to know that your father bought it.Warm regards,Dayanita

Last year in June, the painting was returned to its painter. This afternoon, the Lahore-born Nony Singh, who talks of her childhood memories of World War II and Partition riots as clearly as if they had happened the day before, recalls the origins of the said artwork. She says that at some point during the 1960s, she visited Jaipur with husband, the late Mahenderpal Singh. Coursing through the city, she made scores of sketches, developing one into an oil painting.

“It is Jaipur’s Jal Mahal,” declares Nony Singh, holding a glass of white wine. Graciously agreeing to pose for a portrait, she gets up from the sofa, and stands between her painting and her daughter Dayanita Singh, who, like her, is an artist.