Reproduced from an article posted
on the India Profile.com website: http://www.indiaprofile.com/lifestyle/angloindians.htm
Unfortunately there is no mention of the author's name
The Anglo-Indians, children of mixed
marriage, were called, the wheels, the cranks, the levers of the Empire building
machinery. In the modernization of India they were the pioneers. The Anglo-Indians
have a tradition of being punctilious in work, meticulous in appearance and
gregarious and lively in food habits, speech and customs.
Anglo-Indians, children of mixed marriages,
loved and cherished, reared to speak the languages of the ruler and the ruled,
their linguistic proficiency and swarthy complexions were utilized to advantage
in war and peace, in trade and acquisition in the early days of the East India
Company. Their religion, dress, customs and eventually manners and mores identified
them with the British. In turn they were accepted and rejected according to
the political whims of the Directors in London.
The Anglo-Indian is an original Calcutta. He is as old as the city itself. Job
Charnock, the founder of Calcutta, was the father of three daughters by his
Indian wife. The early settlers left their womenfolk at home and so in the 17th
and early 18th centuries, it was not uncommon for the Englishman to marry an
Indian wife and adopt Indian ways. His children inherited his fortune and were
sent home for education.
The name Anglo-Indian was coin to describe an India-returned Englishman. It
was not until the early 20th century that the word came to denote the mixed
or Eurasian population in India. At its peak, the community in Calcutta is said
to have numbered 50,000 far outnumbering the English population in the settlement.
In the 18th century, Britain was at war on many fronts in Europe and in the
New World. England's country born children threw in their lot with their fatherland
against warring Nawabs and Rajahs. They were an indispensable part of the British
army.
After the mulatto uprising in San Domingo in Haiti, country born children were
barred from retuning to England for education and a few years later a ban was
imposed on their appointments in civil, military and marine services. Indian
society did not accept the phirangi, and so Anglo-Indian history is fraught
with many vicissitudes. Wealthy Eurasian indigo planters, zamindars and merchants
bequeathed large endowments for the education of the weaker sections. In the
crash of 1833 and again during the slump a century later, many lost their fortunes
and their jobs. It is to the community's credit that they realized the needs
of the time and set up educational institutions to equip their children for
other jobs. In Calcutta, boys were employed in jobs as uncovenanted hands or
in upper subordinate positions. With their political strength growing in Bengal
the British saw the need to use the Eurasian as a go-between.
The opening of the Suez Canal brought the Fishing Fleets to India and mixed
marriages were now frowned upon. Their usefulness over and the Empire established,
the British pushed those very same country born who had defended the Union jack
during the 1857 mutiny with untold valour, into privileged posts with no future.
And so the Eurasian abandoned enterprise in favour of secure government service
and this was a contributory cause of his economic decline.
The Anglo-Indian officer in the Railways-India, Custom, Police or Port Commissioners
has a tradition of being punctilious in work and meticulous in appearance. In
the modernization of India, the Anglo-Indian faced the perils of pioneering.
He surveyed the unknown terrain, treacherous hills, malarious marshes and dangerously
infested jungles. He supervised the laying of railway tracks, of planting telegraph
poles, of building housing colonies in way out areas. Rightly have Anglo-Indians
been called the wheels the cranks, the levers of Empire building machinery.
Generations of discipline born in the schoolroom and the sports field, bred
an esprit de corps in the Anglo-Indian. Many a steam locomotive was manned by
a father and son team. They took pride in the tip top condition of the engine
and its split-second punctuality, so much so that one could set one's watch
by the Indian Railways. The Customs Officer with his colleague in the Port Commissioner's
worked hard and played hard. Leslie Claudius and Pat Jansen were Olympic hockey
players and retained the gold for India in the 1948 Games. When Claudius walked
into the smoking-room of the Bengal Club in 1990, heads turned in admiring recognition.
An all-round sportsman, Claudius remembers fondly how he learnt to play football
in his own backyard with the chokra boys. Quite by chance and at the instance
of another hockey giant, Dickie Carr he became an Olympic hockey player. He
is wistful about the changes in the sports world he knew so well. Nobody cares
now he says, thinking of the spontaneous warmth of the pat on the back by a
spectator for a game well played.
The pride of the Calcutta Police was its Anglo-Indian Sergeant contingent. These
tall hefty lads were prominent on any parade or display astride their red Harley
Davidson motorcycles. The story goes that the legendary Ronnie Moore ate his
breakfast standing, off the mantelshelf in the Lal Bazaar mess so as not to
crush his white satin jean uniform! Many a policeman has dined out on the Sergeant
Evans story. The greenhorn sergeant on duty found a car wrongly parked on the
main street outside the famous Firpo's restaurant and tea-room. Not satisfied
with booking the offending chauffeur, he summoned the owner. "Fairweather?"
said Seargant Evans, "I don't care if you are Fair weather or foul weather.
My orders stand." The next morning Mr. Fairweather, Commissioner of Police,
congratulated and commended Sergeant Evans.
The academic qualifications required for the reserved posts were low, as a result
of which few Anglo-Indians aspired to higher studies. Their ambition was stifled,
though there have been and still are a few members of the community who rose
to the rank of Deputy Commissioner of Police, Member Railway Board and Post
Master General. Some have been successful in the legal and medical professions.
Monseigneur Barber, a true Calcutta Anglo-Indian, sits back in his chair with
a cigar in his room the Sacred Heart Church in Dharamtala - the gift of a Portuguese
lady, Dona Pascoag De Souza. He chuckles over the good old days of his boyhood
with characteristic humour. His father was Assistant Valuer in the quasi government
Calcutta Improvement Trust, frequently acting as Chief, but he knew that though
he was worth his salt, he would never get the job. The situation changed radically
after independence.
Monseigneur Barber tells of the Indian Defense Force (IDF) of the First World
War. Jocularly nicknamed the "I Don't Fight" corps, the men were recruited
entirely from the Anglo-Indian community under the British officer. He may have
been only a lieutenant, but he thought he was a Major General! The Monsignor's
Uncle Carmody who later rose high in the railways with seven others ran the
German railway in Africa. When the boys returned home, they had to beg for jobs.
In my search for nostalgia, Father Horace Rosario S.J. proved a treasure trove
of oral history which he recounted at length in the parlour of St. Xavier's
College on Park Street. Living within themselves, the community developed certain
characteristics manifested in the Church, the club and the Boarding School.
Sunday mornings, well dressed families-the women until two decades ago sporting
hats, gloves and veils-make their way to their parish church on foot, in rickshaws,
in cars and taxis. The majority of Anglo-Indians in Calcutta today are Catholics.
After Mass, they visit each other's homes and stay on for a lunch of kofta curry
and yellow rice.
A gregarious, fun-loving, musical and convivial people, merriment with lots
to eat and drink are a part of the Anglo-Indian life-style. Baptism, first holy
communions with all due reverence are celebrated with one big bash at the Grail
and Rangers Club. This is the bond that holds the community together, says Father
Rosario.
The Railway Institute in the mofussil and the clubs in the cities were an important
aspect of their culture. Unlike British clubs, these were never male preserves,
but very much a family haunt. The Calcutta Rangers Club founded in 1896, is
one of the premier Anglo-Indian Clubs in the country. In sports, the club has
nurtured some of the finest hockey, football and basketball teams. The major
events in the Club's social calendar are Housie Nites, and the Balls-Easter,
May Queen, Independence Eve and New Year's Eve. In the days gone by, reminisces
one old resident, live five piece bands would play for Rs.30/- a night. Young
and old jived, jitterbugged and rock and rolled with gay abandon.
In his time, Cedric Coutts sang Charmaine in his charming baritone. Those were
the days Scotch whisky was eight annas (50p) a peg. Endless plates of potato
chips and bottles of tomato sauce were on the house. Apart from social activities,
the Calcutta Rangers Sweep donated large sums to local charities
Boarding schools were another adjunct that catered to the itinerant Anglo-Indians
who sent their children to Darjeeling, Nanital, Hazaribagh and Asansol. Organized
games were compulsory. Children played all games and became all-rounders. Boxing
was a favourite sport and many were the fans of Kid D'Silva of Calcutta.
Because of the transferable nature of his job, the Anglo-Indian did not think
of building his own home. On retirement, Calcutta was the home base for many.
They rented houses, flats or rooms in Dharamtalla, bow Bazaar, Ripon Street,
Royd Street and the small lanes off Free School Street, once called Colinga
which is still their stronghold. The building may be shabby and decrepit, but
the home is always neat. Windows are curtained and sheets are aired regularly.
Émigrés to Australia have taken this habit with them. The vase
of flowers on the teapoy was always freshly filled and the mali (gardner) with
his basket of blooms was as regular as the rotiwala (breadman). Plastic flowers
are more practical today. Warm and hospitable, the Anglo-Indian housewife kept
an open house. No guest could leave without having had a boxwalla's curry puff
or a slice of cake. Each family has its favourite recipes for prawn curry, vindaloo,
jhal frazie and the all time favourite alu chop (potato rissole) to which the
individual bawarchi (cook) adds his particular flavour.
Christmas is the greatest day of the year. Preparations for Barrha Din start
months ahead with the bottling of kala jamun (Indian blackberry) wine in summer.
From October, the durzees (tailors) of Ripon Street and Madge Lane, the latter
named after a well known Anglo-Indian family who owned the land on which stand
the New Market and Globe Cinema, are busy cutting and stitching the latest fashions
from Vogue magazine. Granny's amra pickle and Aunty's chutney are sunned. Finally
the baker arrives to take away the cake-mix rich with fruit and spice to bake
into a dozen or more portions for family and friends.
Frank Anthony's mother sent him a dozen bottles of the Anglo-Indian special
liquor and Milk Punch at Chrismas every year until she died. It was not unusual
for a railway family to come to Calcutta for their Christmas shopping on the
sales of their year's collection of newspapers. They like so many others still
make New Market their second home for the pre-Christmas weeks, buying presents,
window shopping and munching on hot gram and Nizams kathi rolls which have followed
the Anglo-Indian to Australia.
Rosycheeked children, home from their boarding schools in the hills were happy
sucking sticks of red and white barley sugar. Parties at home inevitably ended
with a sing-song of old-time favourites round the piano-Roll Out the Barrel,
When Irish Eyes are Smiling sounding lustier as the evening wore on.
Like their food and some of their ways, Anglo-Indian speech is a synthesis of
English and Hindustani. In an accent and lilt entirely his own the young Anglo-Indian
teases, Fatty Fatty Bomba Lati, ate up all the ghee chapatty, Inty Minty Papa
Tinty, Tan Toon, Tessa, count Anglo-Indian children when playing ring games.
The dialect as it may be called, was caught by Bobby Kokka in a 1960s Air India
advertisement. "She was a Dum Dum blonde. To her Calcutta was Cal, Darjeeling
was Darj and men to her were something that only came at the end of her sentences-until
she went Idle wild."
It was the Anglo-Indian girl who first volunteered for the job of air hostess.
She led the way for the emancipated woman outside the home. In Calcutta they
were the first among women to take up careers. As teachers they are the back-bone
of the English medium schools in the city. Many a Calcuttan fondly cherishes
and owes a debt to this great institution-from principal to Nursery Teacher.
In nursing, it was the Anglo-Indian woman who lighted the lamp. Some are remembered
as dedicated Matrons of public hospitals.
In the world of entertainment, the beautiful sloe-eyed girl, product of a happy
mixture of East and West, was top of the pops. Calcutta claims Merle Oberon
as her own and Marie Wilson visited her city last year with a jazz group from
Australia. The army of Patsys and Glorias kept the manually operated telephone
lines in Calcutta alive and alert. The smart, efficient Anglo-Indian secretary
was a most valuable asset in merchantile offices. Many, like Betty Catchick,
Anne Lumsden and Jenny Paes carried this efficiency and dedication to work on
to the playing field. Anne Lumsden was the only woman to win the Arjuna Award
for her contribution o hockey. Jenny Paes, on the eve of her departure for Wimbledon
to watch her son Leander, recalls her eventful career in basketball and her
nine triumphant years as the ICI champion in the Office League matches. Her
eldest daughter Jackie sometimes accompanied her and was the team mascot. Marie,
her younger daughter followed in her mother's footsteps and last year won the
most valuable player award in the Inter-Club tournament. She has taken up sports
medicine like her father.
Jenny Thompson (nee Godfrey) writes from England, "I often think about
the interclub and interoffice matches played on the Chowringhee maidan. There
was always such enthusiasm and excitement not only amongst the players but with
all concerned, including the spectators. The experience and enjoyment I attained
from these past years will never be forgotten."
In his Oxford University Press office, the West Bengal MLA Neill O'Brien thinks
back to 1967 on the Eddie Hyde Memorial Quiz, the first quiz competition in
Calcutta. From small beginnings in a Parish Hall, quizzing has now become an
All India pastime. The O'Brien boys are all three champion quizzers but father
remains the Master Quizzer and Quiz Master. Mother, Joyce O'Brien at her desk
at the All India Anglo-Indian Association, is a hot-line help source for many
an SOS.
With Indian independence in 1947, the Anglo-Indian community felt insecure and
there was a mass exodus of those who wished to leave. Those who remained were
accepted as an Indian community. Not all agree that the job situation has improved,
but there are many more opportunities. The Administrative and Defence Services
hold Anglo-Indians in high positions.
Those who left Calcutta are fondly remembered, as is Johnny Mayer, the poor
boy who half a century ago learnt to play the violin at the Calcutta School
of Music from Philippe Sandre and played to dress-suited audiences at the Calcutta
symphony orchestra concerts in the New Empire Theatre. A break at the Royal
Academy of Music was the beginning of a very successful musical career.
From England and America, from Australia and Canada they come to visit the city
of their birth. The younger generation come in search of their roots. Letters
remain a link. Remembering happy times, Pat Beatty, Eva Deefholts and Patty
Lord, erstwhile basketball players now in Australia write, "We still value
the many friends we made." They have reconciled themselves to the changed
times. A live for the day philosophy is evident in the octogenarian members
of the community.