The the Autobiography of Indra B. Tamang: My Curious Years with Charles Henri Ford

Told as much through images as through words, a young Nepalese man’s globe-spanning relationship with ＂the father of American surrealism＂ changes the course of his life and gives him a new set of roots.

In 1973, poet, photographer, collage artist, and sculptor
Charles Henri Ford convinced a
young Nepalese waiter at his hotel in Kathmandu to come work as his all-purpose
helper. Nineteen-year-old Indra Tamang, who spoke minimal English, was soon
enjoying an education and a life he could not have imagined. He quickly
graduated from cooking and running errands to attending social engagements with
Charles, to accompanying the artist on his international travels, eventually
becoming his collaborator, and more of a son than an employee.

Charles was a magnet for creative people, and during the ’70s,
’80s, and ’90s, Indra found himself at the center of seemingly every fantastic
little universe in New York, Paris, Crete, and Kathmandu, often as a quiet
observer taking photographs and making mental notes. There was Studio 54, Andy
Warhol’s Factory, the teas that Charles would host at the Dakota, attended by
regulars such as Tennessee Williams, Quentin Crisp, Patti Smith, and Henry
Geldzahler; there were special dinners at the United Nations; visits to Mary
McCarthy and Leonor Fini; and chats in the elevator with neighbors like John
and Yoko and Lauren Bacall. Charles gave Indra a second upbringing, one that
Indra absorbed with tremendous curiosity and enthusiasm. In turn, Indra brought
Charles into his family’s village in Nepal, introducing him to a world that not
many Westerners were privileged to see, especially then. Indra managed to shuttle
between these two vastly different worlds, marrying and having children in
Nepal, though not revealing this to Charles for quite some years.

In 2010, Indra Tamang became the object of global
fascination after inheriting two apartments from Charles’s sister, the actress
Ruth Ford. The story in the Wall Street Journal described a Nepalese ＂butler＂
who ＂grew up in a mud hut＂ and ended up owning property in one of New York’s
most famous buildings. The attention that followed inspired Indra to write this
richer and more accurate account of his life. Illustrated with more than 100 photographs and ephemera from the private collections of Charles and Indra, some never before shown, and gathered together for the first time,
readers will discover that nothing about Indra’s ＂curious years＂ with Charles
and his friends was ordinary or predictable in any
way.

Indra Tamang was born in the Makwanpur District of Southern
Nepal in 1953, and first came to New York City in 1974. He is known for his
artistic collaborations with Charles Henri Ford, and he became internationally
known as ＂The Butler＂ who inherited a fortune from Charles Henri’s sister, Ruth
Ford. Since the passing of Ruth and Charles Henri Ford, he continues to further
their legacies, and manages the use of Charles Henri’s published work. He has
shown his own photography and other artwork at the Mitchell Algus Gallery, the
Woolworth Building, and the 292 Gallery in Lower Manhattan. Between 2008 and
2010 he served as elected President of the Tamang Society of America, and remains
an active member of the Nepali community in New York.

Romy Ashby is a New York-based writer, lyricist, editor, and
interviewer. She’s written numerous Blondie songs with Chris Stein and Debbie
Harry, and is the editor of the small interview magazine Housedeer as well as author
of the blog Walkers in the City.