August 2 was observed as Anglo-Indian Day. This columnist, also from the community, raises a toast to this micro minority’s rich, complex heritage and salutes its great contribution to Indian society
At the book session of Barry O'Brien, author of The Anglo-Indians: A Portrait of a Community
My girl, that’s not the way to jive, and that too, in front of so many people. What will they think!” my nana (grandmother) scowled in her post-mortem of my two left-feet attempt at a family wedding. The riot act for the poor show, I learnt later, was read out to my mother. At most Anglo-Indian gigs, the unsaid rule is ‘Jive well, or go home [leave the party]’, a reinterpretation of ‘Go hard or go home’!
For this unsuspecting Bombaywallah, that episode wasn’t the first time, or reason to be reminded of Anglo pride. Slice-of-life anecdotes apart, over time, and with dwindling numbers, mainly due to migration, their laurels and contribution to Indian society seems to have fallen off the radar, which is why now is a good time for a quick refresher.
Education has always been a high priority. There was no excuse for compromise. I recall an aunt narrating the hour-long sermon she had to hear from her father, because she skipped ‘Hindee’ tuitions — a panic-inducing memory that most Anglos have to this date. Non-graduates were looked down upon, and judged; “That fella flunked his class thrice, and now he changes tyres in a garage,” I recall an uncle passing judgement on his friend’s ‘wayward’ son. In some homes, elders would share eulogies on the revered educationis s, the late Neil O’Brien and Frank Anthony, who established the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) and played a key role in empowering the community in pre- and post-independent India. The many schools in Anthony’s honour are testimony to his contribution to the Indian education system. Visits to Anglo-Indian strongholds like Lucknow, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Chennai reiterated the respect that teachers earned. Most of my maternal and paternal aunts, as well as my mother, were teachers. I’d be over the moon each time I was introduced at social gatherings as so-and-so’s daughter or niece…“the famous teacher who taught a thousand-odd children”.
Then, there was the railway legacy. Till date, it’s tough to find a family that doesn’t have a link to the Indian Railways. Hard-working and happy-go-lucky, these folks were the epitome of a simple, self-sufficient life, where the annual ‘Bada Din’ (term for Christmas) dance, pot luck Saturdays or Easter lunch were their annual highlights. Railway colonies at major junctions formed the nucleus of the community; a charming, unique ecosystem that has sadly lost its original avatar.
Since English is the ‘mother tongue’ of the community, like with education, Anglo-Indians dominated a wide section of the airline and hospitality industries in pre- and post-independent India. They were automatic picks along with the Parsis (in West India) for front desk roles in India’s nascent corporate sector. It was common chatter to hear relatives blush and boast at family dos, “She was recruited by Cathay, barely two years after her time at Indian Airlines,” or “He’s at the Taj Coromandel and already, he’s on the main shift!”
The community shone bright with high representation in India’s Armed Forces and in sport. We’d hear a laundry list of high-ranking uncles who led battalions, or grandaunts who as military nursing staff saved the wounded during India’s wars. Any sport-loving Anglo still tears up while watching Leander Paes on the medal podium at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. The community’s exploits on the hockey field are the stuff of legend, both in India and overseas. The longstanding chuckle at many house parties is how Australian hockey should hail the Anglo-Indians for gifting them countless international medals, thanks to the many waves of migration from India that brought tonnes of talent to the turf. With music, Anglo-Indians, along with their Goan counterparts, formed the bedrock of Bollywood’s golden era of music, when the likes of RD Burman and co rocked the charts with their path-breaking sound.
Till today, and this I can swear by, it’s tough to find an Anglo-Indian home without a music system. Step in on a Sunday morning, and you’ll hear a playlist ranging from Jim Reeves to Shakin’ Stevens and Whitney Houston. A hearty lunch of ball curry, devil fry, brinjal fogath and prawn pulao will be served. The door is always left open for neighbours to join. And if the impoverish looking ‘chokra’ boy is spotted on the street, begging for food with his mother, a tiffin filled with the same fare will be quickly packed off for them. “How can we say Grace [before meals’] if they are starving right below?” That flashback from a childhood family festive lunch still resonates, and reminds me of how we live the proverb: ‘Charity begins at home.’
Barry O'Brien, president, the All-India Anglo-Indian Association with fellow Anglo-Indian Denzil Smith at the former's book tour in Christ Church School, Byculla
There’s no better way to sum up this mini tribute than to borrow from Barry O’Brien’s chat during an intimate session of Anglos at Christ Church School in Byculla in early 2023, while on tour for his eponymous book on the community: “We may be David in size, but we have always been a Goliath in our contribution to society.”
Did you know?
It was on August 2 when the first official mention of the term ‘Anglo-Indian’ was made in the Government of India Act of 1935.
mid-day’s Features Editor Fiona Fernandez relishes the city’s sights, sounds, smells and stones...wherever the ink and the inclination takes her.
She tweets @bombayana. Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com
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