This colorful and highly detailed Air India menu cover was probably part of the national carrier’s priceless collection of artworks.

From the 1940s to the 1990s, Air India collected contemporary and folk-art paintings from prominent Indian artists such as M F Husain, V A Gaitonde and Jatin Das to decorate its bookings offices around the world. Some of them also featured on in-flight menu covers.

The Ministry of Culture took over the collection of the national air carrier in 2018 and some of the art collection, possibly including this painting, is on show at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Mumbai.

This menu also featured Air India’s iconic Maharaja mascot on its interior pages.

Serving as Air India’s mascot since 1946, during the last year of British rule in India, the Maharaja icon was designed by the airline’s commercial director Bobby Kooka and Umesh Rao of the J Walter Thompson advertising agency. At that time, India had 600 Maharajas ruling smaller principalities.

The Maharaja was instantly recognizable with his pot-bellied figure, twirly mustache, striped turban and serene expression. 

The portly figure in regal garb with hands folded in namaskar, the traditional Indian greeting or gesture of respect, could be seen in different humorous scenarios on travel posters – sharing a spot in the Louvre with the Mona Lisa, skiing in Switzerland and trying to catch a mermaid in Sydney, Australia.

The debt-ridden national air carrier was taken over by the Tata Group in 2021 and the mascot, albeit with a sleeker and more modern image, continues to be part of the airline's branding.

This 1970s menu was distributed on flights from New Delhi and Bombay to London via Moscow and the food and drinks offerings were in English and French.