Glasgow Restaurant Apologises After Lovlina Borgohain Flags Missing Northeast on India Map
A popular Indian restaurant in Glasgow has apologised and promised to correct an inaccurate map of India after Olympic and Commonwealth Games medallist Lovlina Borgohain pointed out that the entire Northeast region was missing from it. The incident occurred during a celebratory dinner for India’s highly successful boxing contingent at the 2026 Commonwealth Games and quickly drew attention both in India and among the diaspora.
The restaurant, Mister Singh’s India – The Home of Curry, hosted members of the Indian boxing team on Saturday following their record-breaking campaign. Indian boxers claimed an unprecedented 10 medals in Glasgow — seven gold and three silver — marking one of the strongest performances by the country in the sport at the Games. Lovlina Borgohain, who won a silver medal, was among those present when she noticed that the outline map of India printed on the restaurant’s napkins and displayed outside the premises completely omitted the Northeast.
The map appeared to end at West Bengal, leaving out Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim. Concerns were also raised about the incomplete depiction of Jammu and Kashmir. Lovlina, who hails from Assam, immediately brought the issue to the attention of the restaurant management in a calm but firm manner.
In a video that circulated widely on social media, the boxer explained her reaction without confrontation. “Please don’t take this the wrong way. I felt a little hurt by this. In the map of India, our North East is missing. Yes, even outside, the map that’s displayed has cut off the North East. As someone from the North East, that really hurts us. That’s all I wanted to say. Please keep this in mind next time. Thank you so much,” she said.
Speaking later to media, Lovlina elaborated that the error affected her personally. She told India Today that she and others had noticed the map on both the napkins and the restaurant’s logo. “I felt real bad about it, raised my voice against this issue to the owners. They said it’s a British map that’s why northeast is missing and apologised for the same. Having said that, they will change the map,” she said.
Boxing Federation of India president Ajay Singh, who was also present at the dinner, confirmed that the matter was handled without any confrontation. “There was no confrontation. It was an aberration and we pointed that out, me and Lovlina. They accepted their mistake and assured us that it will be corrected,” Singh told PTI. He noted that the map’s inaccuracies extended beyond the Northeast and included an incomplete representation of Jammu and Kashmir. Singh urged the restaurant to withdraw the faulty design and replace it with one that accurately reflects India’s territorial boundaries.
The restaurant’s management accepted the error and assured the Indian contingent that the map would be corrected. According to Lovlina, the owners attributed the design to a British-sourced map and expressed regret. The swift acknowledgment helped keep the atmosphere amicable despite the sensitivity of the issue.
Lovlina Borgohain’s intervention carries particular weight because of her own background and achievements. The Assam boxer won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and has been one of India’s most consistent performers in the sport. Her silver medal in Glasgow added to an already distinguished career. Coming from the Northeast, she has often spoken about the region’s place in the national imagination, and this episode brought those concerns into sharp focus in an international setting.
The incident has revived a familiar discussion about how India’s Northeast is represented — or sometimes overlooked — in maps, educational materials, media and commercial branding. For many people from the eight Northeastern states, such omissions are not merely cartographic mistakes. They reinforce a sense of peripheral status and of being less visible in the popular idea of India. Maps shape perception. When a region is repeatedly left out, even on something as everyday as a restaurant napkin, it can feel like a quiet erasure of identity and belonging.
Similar controversies have surfaced before. Incomplete or distorted maps of India have appeared in international publications, school textbooks abroad, online platforms and commercial products. In many cases the errors stem from the use of older or foreign-sourced templates that do not reflect India’s official territorial claims, including the full extent of Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeastern states. Indian law and official policy require accurate depiction of the country’s boundaries, and the government has previously taken up such issues with foreign entities.
In the context of the Indian diaspora, the episode carries an extra layer of irony. Mister Singh’s India presents itself as a celebration of Indian food and culture in Scotland. Glasgow has a long-established South Asian community, and Indian restaurants play an important social and cultural role for both residents and visitors. When an establishment that trades on Indian identity displays an incomplete map of the country, it creates a disconnect between the image it projects and the lived reality of many Indians, particularly those from underrepresented regions.
The timing of the incident also amplified its impact. The Indian boxing contingent had just delivered one of its finest performances at a major multi-sport event. The celebratory dinner was meant to mark collective success. Instead, it became a moment of quiet assertion about national completeness. Lovlina’s measured response — polite, personal and clear — avoided escalation while still making the point firmly. The presence and support of the BFI president helped ensure the issue was treated as a matter of principle rather than personal grievance.
Reactions online largely backed Lovlina. Many users from the Northeast and beyond expressed solidarity, noting that the omission was hurtful precisely because it is not uncommon. Others pointed out that restaurants and businesses operating under the “Indian” label abroad have a responsibility to get basic national symbols right. A smaller number of comments suggested the map might have been an unintentional design oversight rather than a deliberate slight, but even those voices generally agreed that correction was necessary.
The broader significance lies in the reminder that representation matters in both large and small ways. Accurate maps are not only about geography. They are about recognition. For athletes representing India on the world stage, seeing their home region absent from a map in an Indian restaurant abroad can feel like a personal and collective slight. Lovlina’s willingness to speak up turned a potentially overlooked detail into a public conversation about inclusion.
The restaurant’s apology and commitment to change the map offer a constructive resolution. By accepting the error and promising to fix it, the management avoided prolonging the controversy. Whether the corrected version appears on new napkins and exterior branding in the coming days will be watched by those who followed the story. For now, the episode stands as a small but telling example of how athletes from the Northeast continue to assert the full map of India — not only through medals, but through the quiet insistence that every part of the country belongs on it.
In the end, the story is straightforward. An incomplete map was pointed out. An apology was offered. A correction was promised. Behind that sequence, however, lies a deeper question about how completely India sees itself, and how completely the world is expected to see it. Lovlina Borgohain’s intervention ensured that, at least in one Glasgow restaurant, the answer will soon include the Northeast.
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