The following is an
article by Barry O'Brien which
appeared in Calcutta's Telegraph newspaper.
"You Anglo-Indians are crazy! Nothing stops
you, that's why we admire you!"
A young journalist was yelling in my ear over the cacophony of music, chatter,
announcements and the sound of pounding rain on the roof of the Calcutta Rangers
Club tent. It was Sunday - the third and final day of the celebrations to mark
the first ever Anglo-Indian Day.
The young man wasn't making a casual passing remark. He was consciously complimenting
a community he was close to. Both his father - a recently retired IAS officer
of great repute in our State - and he had studied in Anglo-Indian schools and
mixed and mingled with many an Anglo-Indian school buddy and teacher. They,
like many others, have a soft corner for a Community they care for and are fascinated
by.
The young man was right. There's got to be something crazy about us. Not even
119 millimetres of rain could submerge the feeling of togetherness through a
weekend of celebrations. As it came down in buckets, we went in, in droves -
well nigh a thousand of us - jammed into the maidan tent of a club now in its
102nd year and still the favourite meeting place for everyone in the family.
Though the blinding rain left the jhaal-fraizee and the vindaloo a trifle watered
down and the paper plates very damp, it failed to have a similar effect on the
spirits. Nothing could keep an ailing Clifford Penn Anthony, a former Secretary
in the Department of Education or Richard Hooper, a legendary fighter on the
field, now with a Jodhpur foot, away from the camaraderie. The spirit was exemplified
no better than through the presence of four generations of octogenarian Leslie
Hart's family. He was soaking it all in with his daughter, grandchildren and
great-grandson.
While he sat back and sipped a shandy, his daughter, Gillian D'Costa Hart, the
Community's representative in the Legislative Assembly, looked on with pride.
She had played her role as the Convener of the celebrations most efficiently
and effectively and even the heavens couldn't stop showering their blessings.
The idea for an Anglo-Indian Day germinated Down Under. At the World Reunion
in New Zealand last year the idea was mooted: Let's fix a date on which the
Community will celebrate with prayer, deliberation, fun and fellowship all the
way from Wellington to Waltair and Sydney to Santragachi. My brother Andy, the
historian in the family, dug deep into his old history books and started 'surfin'
with a greater passion than the Beach Boys.
Weeks later he mailed us a message marked: GOT IT! AUGUST 2! It was the most
appropriate date, he felt, and what did we think of it? Dad, the walking encyclopedia
in the family, pondered thoughtfully but said he would have to crosscheck whether
August 2 was indeed the date on which the 'Anglo-Indian' was officially defined
for the first time. I, the impatient, the impulsive in the family, shot back
that the date didn't matter. The idea did!
Today, even the date does. Way back in 1935 it was the date on which the Anglo-Indians,
as a Community, were defined in the Government of India Act and it was this
very definition that found a place when the Constitution was adopted in 1950.
The concept of celebrating Anglo-Indian Day globally every year was conceived
by Anglo-Indians, many of whom have not been 'home' for decades, in a land far
away where there are no rickshaws, no rolls and no Rangers Club - not the originals
at any rate; in a foreign land where their children were born and are growing
up with 'miyte' on their lips but feelings for 'back home' tucked away in a
little corner of their hearts. In this inaugural year itself it has been celebrated
in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Canada and here in India.
In Calcutta, the celebrations began on the 2nd with a simple and meaningful
service by the graveside of the great poet-patriot Henry Louis Vivian Derozio.
Minister of Minority Affairs Mohammed Salim graced the occasion and didn't think
twice about hopping a lift in one of the organiser's cars to St Xavier's College,
the venue of an exhibition on the Community's heritage and culture, put together
by Melvyn Brown. Later that evening, in St Paul's Cathedral at an Ecumenical
Thanksgiving Service, three Bishops led the prayers: Archbishop Emeritus Henry
D'souza. Bishop P.S.P. Raju and Archbishop Lucas Sirkar.
The next morning it was back to St Xavier's for the Patton Panel Discussion
to deliberate on the topic: Looking back for strength; looking ahead with confidence.
The President-in-Chief of the All-India Anglo-Indian Association, Neil O'Brien,
pieced together the glorious history of the Community from the middle of the
seventeenth century right up to Sri Henry Gidney and Frank Anthony's landmark
message in 1942: 'We are Anglo-Indians by Community. Of that fact we have every
reason to be proud. Let us cling and cling tenaciously to all that we hold dear,
our language, our way of life and our distinctive culture. But let us always
remember that we are Indians. The Community is Indian. It has always been Indian.
Above all, it has inalienable Indian birthright. The more we love and are loyal
to India, the more will India love and be loyal to us.'
The other speakers highlighted the high points of the past, dwelt on the present
and beamed searchlights on a bright future. They included the Principal of the
Year 2001 (at The Telegraph School Awards for Excellence) Lawrence Hartnett;
club management guru Michael Robertson; former NIPS Secretary of the Year, Michelle
Selwyn; the Xavierian of the year 2001, Richard Knight; and the overweight man
in black who writes a fortnightly column for this paper.
Rich tributes were paid to the organisations and the institutions that stand
by society as a whole and the Community in particular: the 125 year old The
All India-Anglo-Indian Association, the face and soul of the Community nationally;
CAISS, a dedicated, never-tiring Society guided by Plhilomena Eaton and comprising
the most generous of givers; the generous East India Charitable Trust; most
significantly, Anglo-Indian schools stretching across from Dr Graham's Homes
in Kalimpong to Loreto Entally, and St Thomas, Kidderpore, to Frank Anthony
Public School; and the people who run them, from Bishop Raju in St John's to
Sheila Broughton in Kalyani.
The erudite Utpal Chatterjee, a guest speaker, summed it up most appropriately,
complimenting the panel for the high quality of deliberation and the Community
for making a contribution to the fabric of India out of all proportion to its
size. The Chief Guest, the Honourable Speaker, Hashim Abdul Halim, spoke at
length on the same lines and completed his eulogy with special reference to
the strong Anglo-Indian woman - "so, so beautiful!"
There were many who fitted the description that evening at the Dance where the
Anglo-Indian King and Queen were selected. Flight Steward Edward Eccleston and
working mummy Donna Stiffle were crowned, but only after six champions in life
were honoured for their outstanding achievements and contributions: Msgr. Eric
Barber, Phyllis Pearson-Manuel, Leslie Claudius, Neil O'Brien, Sr. Marisa and
Mervyn Martin.
It was a crowded, fulfilling weekend for a microscopic community growing smaller
by the day and stronger by the hour.