Title: The Anglo-Indians: A Portrait of a Community
Author: Barry O’Brien
Publisher: Aleph, 2022
Pages: 538
If you want to read a pleasant and light-hearted
history of the Anglo-Indians, search no further. Barry O’Brien brings you just
that. It is exactly what the subtitle says: A portrait of a community
rather than an academic history, though the author reminds us occasionally in
the book that he did quite a bit of research before writing the book.
Who is an Anglo-Indian? According to
the Constitution of India [Article 366(2)], “An Anglo-Indian means a person
whose father or any other of whose male progenitors in the male line is or was
of European descent but who is domiciled within the territories of India and is
or was born within such territory of parents habitually resident therein and
not established there for temporary purposes only.”
In less mystifying words, an
Anglo-Indian:
· has a European forefather
· is a citizen of India who lives permanently
in India
· has a European surname
· cannot be an adopted child of an Anglo-Indian father though the surname is European
Most Anglo-Indians are
Christians but being a Christian is not a necessary condition for being
Anglo-Indian. All Anglo-Indians are not descendants of British parentage; many
are of French or Portuguese or other European descent. Children of Anglo-Indian
women won’t be Anglo-Indian if they marry non-Anglo-Indian men.
We learn a lot of
interesting facts about this little community of less than 4 lakh members from
O’Brien’s book. The interesting history begins in 1498 when Vasco da Gama set
foot on the shores of Kerala – a whole century before the British thought of
India. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to land in India and they fell “head
over heels for the country – its spices, its scope for commerce, and finally,
its people.” [All quotes from O’Brien] The Portuguese married the women of
Kerala irrespective of their religion. “Many of the women who were married to
Portuguese settlers were from Muslim families, who had an eye on commerce and
profit, since a majority of the wealthy and well-established merchants and
traders were Muslims.” The church records of the period show “that several
marriages recorded in Cochin in 1514 included women from the Muslim, Malabari,
Christian, Brahmin, and even Javanese and Canarian communities…. In all of
these marriages, the women were made to convert and were baptized in the
Catholic Church.” This made the Christian population in Kerala boom.
The Dutch arrived in 1595
and the French followed in 1664. And then the British. The Anglo-Indians are
the descendants of these colonisers. Many of them left India when the country
was liberated from the colonial rule. A few chose to stay back for various reasons,
the chief being that they loved India and considered it as their own country.
They were born and brought up in India. They were Indian citizens.
The Constitution of India
made provision to safeguard the rights of the Anglo-Indians. The President
nominates two members from the Anglo-Indian community to the Parliament. There
are also certain rules meant to protect the interests of this minority
community. Some of these protections have been threatened time and again by
different political parties. The community managed to hold on to the provisions
by hook or by crook until 25 Jan 2020 when “the provision for special
representation of the Anglo-Indian community ceased to exist.” O’Brien says
that the move was “nothing but clever political trickery, in the garb of
constitutional jugglery.” He goes on to explain how and why.
A lot of things are
changing in India under the present political leadership which gets things done
rather too deviously. Of course, O’Brien’s book is not concerned with political
chicanery at which the present regime is expert. However, O’Brien’s book makes
us feel sympathy for the community which is dwindling anyway.
The book presents the illustrious
contributions made by Anglo-Indians to the country. The whole third section (of
the total of four) is about those contributions. Education, the armed forces,
women empowerment, the railways, various professions especially the services,
and sports are particularly mentioned with a chapter devoted to each.
The last section is the
most light-hearted. It tells us about the peculiarities of the Anglo-Indians:
their lifestyle, family life, religion, friendships, cuisine, and very amusingly
‘Anglo-Indianisms from the Past and Present’. This section presents some very
interesting anecdotes about real people
though some names have been changed. I was struck particularly by one anecdote described
in the chapter on Faith.
Reverend Father Lawrence
Picachy, prefect of St Xavier’s Collegiate School, Calcutta was entrusted with
the sad duty of communicating the news about the tragic death of two children
to their widowed mother, an Anglo-Indian. Both her sons had drowned during a
school picnic, one while trying to save the other. The priest saw the woman in
the chapel. She was praying. Father Lawrence went and knelt by her side. He
clasped his palm over her hands. She opened her eyes. He gathered the strength to
say, ‘The Lord is preparing you for what I am going to tell you.’ She shut her
eyes again for a few moments and then opened them with a deep understanding
that could only have come from profound faith in her God. ‘Who is it, Father?
Paul or David?’ She asked. He looked into her eyes with tremendous agony and whispered,
‘Both.’ “The lady shut her eyes even tighter… and kept praying, even as silent
tears rolled down her flushed cheeks.”
The priest mentioned this
episode many times later as an example of the depth of faith and how he felt so
small, so insignificant in comparison to that simple lady. There was no
hysteria, no questioning: ‘Why me, Lord? Why both the boys?’ Nothing. She
accepted the tragedy with deep faith in her God.
O’Brien goes on to say
that “This is the sort of faith that is fairly common among Anglo-Indians –
faith that can move mountains.”
The book is written by an
Anglo-Indian who is proud of his community but is humble at the same time. The
book is appreciative of the community but critical too. A very balanced look at
the community by an insider who knows his subject thoroughly. Anyone who is
interested to know more about Anglo-Indians will find this book tremendously
valuable.
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteMost interesting - excellent review. Thank you. YAM xx
Glad you found the review useful.
DeleteMost interesting! Thanks. I grew up with Anglo- Indians and have remained in touch with some of them.
ReplyDeleteThen you'll find this book irresistible.
DeleteA very insightful read on Anglo-Indians via O'Brien's book review.
ReplyDeleteO'Brien's book is worth a read.
Delete