This was a speech given by a Senior
Anglo Indian at a dinner dance in
Sydney last year.
Good Evening Ladies & Gentleman. Welcome to this
special evening.
I'm attempting to condense over 300 years of Anglo-Indian
history in to
10 minutes.
The British Empire once held absolute power
in over 52 countries.
About two-fifths of the world. But there was only one jewel
in the crown-India The first European settlers in India were
the Portuguese in 1498 about 100 years before the British.
The Dutch, French and the British followed.
They were all here for the duration. The inevitable happened
and a new mixed race community emerged. Even though the British
came in peacefully as merchants and traders they soon colonised
the sub-continent of India. But the British needed allies
to protect the jewel in the crown and so began a deliberate
policy encouraging British males to marry Indian women to
create the first Anglo-Indians.
The East India Company paid 15 silver rupees for each child
born to an Indian mother and
a European father, as family allowance. These children were
amalgamated into the growing
Anglo-Indian community, forming a defensive structure for
the British Raj. This was a deliberate act of self preservation
by the English.
This unique hybrid individual was ethnically engineered by
the occupying British so much so
that the Anglo-Indians were the only micro-minority community
ever defined in a Constitution.
Article-366 of the Indian Constitution states An Anglo-Indian
means a person whose father or
any of whose male ancestors in the male line is or was of
European descent but who is domiciled within the territory
of India and is or was born within such territory of parents
habitually resident there-in and not established there for
temporary purposes only.
So you can see we were intended to be a permanent micro-minority.
In 1830 British Parliament described the Anglo-Indian as those
who have been English educated, are entirely European in their
habits and feelings, dress and language. They were more "Anglo"
than "Indian".
Their mother-tongue was English, they were Catholic or Anglican
and their customs and traditions were English. While most
of them married within their own circle, many continued to
marry expatriate Englishmen. Very few married Indians.
Without Anglo-Indian support British rule would have collapsed.
RAILWAYS
We ran the railways, post and telegraph, police and customs,
education, export and import, shipping, tea, coffee and tobacco
plantations, the coal and gold fields. We became teachers,
nurses, priests and doctors. If it had any value the British
made sure we ran it. And when it came to secretarial duties
no one could touch our Anglo-Indian girls - the best stenographers
in the world and with beauty to match.
Were we favoured? Yes, the English trusted
us. After all we were blood related. We worked hard.
We became indispensable. We lived comfortably and were protected
by the British raj. Like the British we had servants to do
all our domestic work. The average Anglo-Indian home could
afford at least three full time servants - a cook, a bearer
and the indispensable nanny (ayah). Part time servants included
a gardener, cleaner and laundry man (dhobi). Of course we
learned to speak Hindi to be able to argue, give orders, bargain,
accuse and terminate employment and throw in a dozen Hindi
expletives.
Imagine our horror when we were later to
migrate to England, Canada and Australia and we no longer
had servants to do our domestic chores. Who can remember looking
at our first toilet brush and asking 'what do we do with this?'
We had to learn to cook, clean, garden, do the laundry and
take the garbage out and look after the kids.
CHRISTMAS CAKE
The tradition of making your own Christmas cake was a sacred
Anglo-Indian custom. Each family had a secret cake recipe,
handed down from our grandparents. About a week before Christmas
the local baker was contacted. He would turn up to your home
with two very large terracotta bowls that looked more like
satellite dishes. One for the egg whites and one for mixing.
Mum would dish out the ingredients.
This was all mixed together under her watchful eye and distributed
in to about dozen or so cake tins and labelled with your name
on it. This labelling was all important. We did not want him
to return that evening with someone else's cake recipe. Heaven
forbid.
MUSIC/DANCE
Music, movies and socialising were high on the agenda. We
loved a dance. Afternoon dance jam sessions were a magnet
for the teenagers where we jived, jitterbugged, tango'd or
just fox trotted.
Many a lasting liaison was forged on the
dance floor and today many of us are celebrating 40-year plus
marriages. Our mums sat around gossiping and seldom took their
eyes off their darling daughters. I know I speak from experience.
I met my wife at one such event and now 44 years later I still
fancy her.
The Anglo-Indian railway and cant onment
towns that sprung up around the major cities cultivated a
unique social and industrial blend with a heartbeat. Their
dances were legendary. At the drop of a hat the city cousins
would jump on a train and travel for anything up to six hours
to get to that up-country dance. Many of our lives revolved
around the biggest and best railway system in the world. And
the trains ran on time!
Today the Indian Railways transports over
5 billion passengers each year employing more than 1.6 million
personnel.
Between 1853 and 1947 we built and managed 42 rail systems.
This was a legacy we can be proud of.
CONTRIBUTIONS
During World War 1 about 8000 Anglo-Indians fought in Mesopotamia,
East Africa, and in the European theatre -
three Anglo-Indians were awarded Victoria Crosses.
In World War II they fought at Dunkirk and
flew in the battle of Britain - Guy Gibson of the Dam Busters
was one such Anglo-Indian, and we were in North Africa, Malaya
and the fall of Singapore.
Merle Oberon and Juliet Prowse, Tony Brent,
Engelbert Humperdinck, Cliff Richards are all Anglo-Indians
The Anglo-Indians took India to Olympic hockey
glory. From 1928 India won five consecutive Olympic hockey
gold medals.
In fact, when India faced Australia in the semi-finals of
the 1960 Olympics in Rome, it was a unique occasion.
The captains who came face to face were both Anglo-Indians,
Leslie Claudius and Kevin Carton.
EDUCATION
English education played a major role amongst the Anglo-Indians.
Anglo-Indian schools numbered close to 300 and were prized.
They stretched from Bangalore in the south to the cooler northern
hill stations of Darjeeling in the foothills of the Himalayas.
Each was modelled on the posh English Public school system.
We ran them as teachers and principals and to this day these
schools are coveted across the sub-continent.
IDENTITY DILEMMA
The Anglo-Indian has always faced an identity dilemma because
of our mixed origins. Europeans said they were Indians with
some European blood; Indians said they were Europeans with
some Indian blood.
The world of Anglo-India vanished on August
15th 1947, when India became the largest independent democracy
in the world.
The British packed and went home.
Over 300,000 Anglo-Indians remained. We felt apprehensive
and abandoned. So we too packed our bags and began to migrate
to Australia, Britain, Canada, the U.S.A. and New Zealand.
Many of you will remember the dreaded Income Tax Clearance
document you need to leave the country and further faced the
strict Indian foreign exchange regulations that allowed you
only 10 pounds each. Imagine st arting life in a new country
with 10 quid in your pocket. Some had to leave behind their
savings; others simply resorted to the risky black market
loosing a 30% of your savings.
IDENTITY
The Anglo-Indian identity is disappearing. We have found new
lives and merged into the mainstream. Our generation, sitting
here tonight, who were born in India, growing up in the 40s
thru to 60s, are possibly the last true Anglo-Indians. Look
around you. Where is the next generation? Most of our children
were born abroad and their connection to Anglo-India is very
fragile. They have married Aussies, English, Canadian or other
Anglo-Indians born outside India. They prefer to be regarded
as English, Australian or Canadian. Our grandchildren will
assimilate and forge a new identity based on their country
of birth.
Putting aside history I believe we could regard ourselves
as an exotic cocktail that had its origins over 300 years
ago.
We have matured and become a unique aromatic spirit, generously
flavoured and very stimulating.
We were a force to be reckoned with.
We were the shakers and the stirrers.
Please pick up your glasses and toast your State of Origin
and New Horizons
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