Lord Swraj Paul inaugurates hall in wife’s memory at London’s Indian Gymkhana Club

British Indian industrialist Lord Swraj Paul inaugurated a hall in memory of his late wife, Aruna, at the Indian Gymkhana Club in London.

The opening of the Lady Aruna Swraj Paul Hall multisport venue in west London took place at a special event attended by British parliamentarians and diplomats last Saturday, which also marked the 92nd birthday of Lord Paul.

Lady Aruna passed away at her home in London in May last year, aged 86.

“This hall is a tribute to my wonderful wife whom I miss very much; we never had an argument during our 65 years of marriage,” said Lord Paul.

He also announced plans to name a building at the University of Wolverhampton, where he is Chancellor, after his late wife.

Lord Paul founded the Caparo Group of industries, with operations in the US, India, Canada and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“I have a great love for India, where I was born in Jalandhar (Punjab). So, India is in my heart, America is in my heart and Britain is a country I love,” the peer said.

He spoke about setting up a nursing college and hospital in Varanasi, north India,following discussions with prime minister Narendra Modi, who represents the holy city in parliament.

Among guests at the memorial event included Lord Tariq Ahmad, the foreign office minister in charge of south Asia, India’s High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami and his wife Sangeeta and Bangladeshi High Commissioner to the UK, Saida Muna Tasneem.

The Indian Gymkhana Club dates to 1916 and has a history of the most prominent cricketers and hockey players from the Indian subcontinent having played on the grounds, among them Vijay Merchant, Vijay Hazare, the Nawab of Pataudi, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Imran Khan.

Lord Paul has been closely associated with the club as a past president in the 1980s and also has a hall in memory of his late daughter, Ambika Paul, within the grounds.

With the opening of the new memorial hall, the club management said they are working towards creating a centre of excellence for sports, culture and healthy living.