For Seb Coe,Delhi trip was a quest to retrace Indian roots

“It makes me smile that people see me as this classical Englishman when I’m such a cultural mix. In fact,those who know me well,especially my Indian friends,often insist that I do have very noticeable Indian traits. I also have a strong physical resemblance to one of my Indian cousins and,supposedly,to my grandfather Sardari,” Coe said on BBC Radio 4.

‘Proud of connection’

According to the Daily Mail,some of Sardari’s friends have told Coe about his maternal grandfather. Sardari was supposed to have been an elegant,dashing and adventurous man,studying law at one of the London universities,where he met and fell in love with Vera Swan — Coe’s grandmother.

Although Coe never had the opportunity to meet his grandfather in person,he said that he has always been proud of his Indian connection. “I really regret not having known him. He must have been a very strong and adventurous character to arrive in Britain on his own.

“He was among the first wave of educated Indian men who came to London in the 1920s to study at university. I’ve known about him since I was about nine years old,but I can’t say that I know very much about his life,” Coe said.

‘Fascinating history’

“My mother didn’t talk much about him even though she lived in India for years. But I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that he romanced and married my English grandmother Vera,at a time when it must have been difficult for them to live together as an inter-racial couple.”

Coe’s aunt Sheila,his mother’s sister, spoke to the newspaper about her father. “I know that they lived in London for a while before Angela and I were born,” she said. “It was very unusual at that time to have racially mixed relationships,especially between a white woman and an Indian man,either in London or India. Father was working either in insurance or banking. The Lal family were comfortably off rather than hugely wealthy.”

Vera and Sardari were later divorced,though neither of them remarried. Vera and her daughters settled in West London,while Sardari remained in Delhi,where he and his brother bought the lease for the Marina,a Lutyens styled luxury hotel in Connaught Place.

Sardari Lal passed away in 1976,about the same time Coe was breaking into the athletics scene.

“I was in Sheffield when he died. My mother was visibly shaken when the news came in. So it’s something I wanted to explore.”