India Wasn’t Always a Package Deal

When you take a tour of Windsor Castle, you may see one of the oddest paintings hanging there. It’s by a Flemish painter depicting a scroll Catherine of Braganza hands over to Charles II. Its caption reads: ‘Princess Catherine of Portugal hands over Bombay to the British as part of her dowry’. As an Indian, your first thought is, ‘How can she do that? It’s not a box of chocolates! I live here.’