2021-06-19

Iggy takes India by Storm #4

Iggy by Vic Singh
Iggy by legendary Pink Floyd photographer Vic Singh, 2015.

Part 4 of our Mizoram newspaper cuttings.

TIME8 is a digital news medium from Northeast India, ushering a revolution in terms of news collection, unbiased storytelling and fearless journalism powered by raw energy of youth with the tenacity of seasoned journalists. They offer an extensive newsfeed covering politics, policy, sports, entertainment, fashion, art and wellness and of course, web culture.

And what did they publish about Iggy? Surprise! Pink Floyd’s founding member Syd Barrett’s muse roots discovered in Mizoram.

(Text version under the image.)

Pink Floyd’s founding member Syd Barrett’s muse roots discovered in Mizoram
Pink Floyd’s founding member Syd Barrett’s muse roots discovered in Mizoram.

(Text version)

Surprise! Pink floyd's founding member Syd Barrett's muse's roots discovered in Mizoram
The one-time girlfriend and love interest of Syd Barrett was born to a Mizo mother and a British father Image by Byron's Muse

Wish You Were Here, Comfortably Numb, Another Brick On The Wall! Do these ring a bell in your ears? If yes, you are right there! And if no, then well, let me reveal to you an astonishing story! These are one of the famous songs of the groundbreaking English rock band named 'Pink Floyd'! The songs that have the musical power to give you goosebumps! Now, let me unearth something for you all to know.

Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett was one of the founding members of the band that was formed in 1965. If you want to know more about this famous man, you can find a great amount of information in the world of the internet but one of the interesting sides of his life was his romantic life. Barrett had relationships with various women. Among them, one of the women named Evelyn "Iggy" Rose (aka "Iggy the Eskimo", "Iggy the Inuit") has a northeastern connection! Yes. You read it right! This is what the story is about.

The one-time girlfriend and love interest of Syd Barrett was born to a Mizo mother and a British father. She was born as Evelyn Joyce but most commonly referred as "Iggy the Eskimo", "Iggy the Inuit", owing to her alleged Inuit (a member of an indigenous people of northern Canada and parts of Greenland and Alaska) heritage.

She passed away at the age of 69 in London in 2017 and right three years after her death, her roots were discovered amidst the hills of Mizoram. How did the discovery happen and unfold? There happens to be a website dedicated to Iggy by her fans where someone from Mizoram stumbled upon a post in the Holy Church of Iggy the Inuit website.

Iggy Rose's Mizo mother named Chawngpuii married a British army officer named Harry Joyce who was serving in the then British-ruled India. Iggy was born somewhere in present-day Pakistan. She was given a native name (Laldawngliani) as well by her mother which stands for 'Gift of Gods', in a language Iggy never spoke.

Before moving to England, she did her schooling in India and Aden. She had a mark in the spotlight. Just the way she made her debut appearance was the similar way she abruptly disappeared from the spotlight scene. It is only when the Holy Church of Iggy the Inuit launched a mission to bring her back four decades later, they connected with the maternal side of her family in Mizoram.

In her teenage years, Iggy was known to be a mysterious figure in the 1960's London's music scene. She had remarkable Asian facial features which made her one of the most attractive women in the music industry. She was also known as a 'Flower Child', a synonym for Hippies and she dated the likes of Eric Clapton, Rolling Stones' Keith Richards and of course, as I mentioned, the most famous, Syd Barrett

Iggy also made a nude appearance on the cover of Syd Barett's solo album 'The Madcap Laughs which made her unforgettable. In April 1967, Iggy joined the counter-culture throng in Alexandra Palace for The 14-Hour Technicolor Dream-"all 14 hours of it!"-where Floyd played a hypnotic set at dawn.

In 1967, Iggy made her film debut in a short documentary titled IN Gear which was screened as a supporting film in cinemas around the country.

In the year 1966, Iggy's mother lost contacts with her family due to the Mizos' uprising. One of Iggy's relatives in Mizoram named Rosangliana said, "After Mizoram returned to normalcy following the 1986 peace accord, we resumed the search for Iggy's parents, going through Havant Council Hampshire and the UK's Ministry of Defence, but to no avail."

A post regarding Iggy was being updated on the internet and after that, her story came into light, they managed to connect to her family in London. Iggy's brother and sister were elated to have discover the other half of their family. Iggy's fan page is given a new name as Iggy the Mizo following the discovery.


Many thanks to the Mizoram online community!
♥ Libby ♥ Iggy ♥