Page 5 - Demo

THE REVIEW
JANUARY’19-JUNE’19 5
PUNE AGM 2018
the Association has moved on since then and I am happy to tell you that the young people are quite active in many branches—in a positive sense, not in a negative sense—and this is working. Today at this AGM, there are about 150 members present below the age of 35. One hundred and fifty!
So, a warm welcome to all of you, new members, stalwarts, 29 branch presidents present today. And we have families, as you saw, the Gradin family from Korba. Before, you couldn’t bring your family because children were not allowed. Are we allowing children? No! Children are not allowed to be part of the AGM, but they are allowed to be part of the festivities, and we can accommodate them. We’re not going to ask you to bring your children, but if you have to bring your children—because the ‘nana and grandad’ culture is dying even in our community now with more and more couples living independently—you can. I think this is extremely important for young people who have families.
Friends, in my opinion the three greatest assets and strengths of this community are: one, we’re
a community that has a connect with God. Many of us don’t go to church, but we are a community that has a connect with God, and God’s hand is on this community; you better believe it, God’s hand is on this Association, you better believe it. Ask any parish priest—they will tell you that the pillar of their church is the Anglo-Indian community, the most generous community is the Anglo-Indian community.
The second is Family. Everyone has families and they’re all close, but my daughters tell Denise and myself, ‘You know, Dad, what makes our family or community special? We can be so open with our parents.’ So, if Shane Calvert’s sons are not dancing, he gives them a hard stare. If they are standing with only boys, he gives them a harder stare! Ours is a free-spirited community! Yes, we have differences with our parents—sometimes
we go overboard and are rude to them, but a few generations ago, even in our own community, your father was your father; now, your father is your
father and your mother is your mother, but they are also your closest confidants. You can share things with them, you can open up with them and they will stand by you. The family has really kept this community strong. We fight so much with our brothers and sisters—‘He didn’t send me a card, so fifteen years I didn’t talk to him’—all that happens, but the reconciliation also happens. As soon as somebody’s got a toe ache, the whole family lands up; all the differences are forgotten. So, the family is our second strength.
And our third, and really great strength—and
I have to compare it with other communities is
the position, strength and contribution of our Women. On some days of the month, she can’t enter the kitchen. On some days of the month,
I believe, she can’t sleep on the same bed. On
many days of many months, she can’t enter the temple. And, years ago—in the ‘40s and ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s—they were not seen or heard, because they were women in non-Anglo-Indian families. The Anglo-Indian woman emancipated the
women of India. The emancipation of women in India should be credited solely, exclusively and definitely to the Anglo-Indian woman. It was the Anglo-Indian woman who went out and worked.
It was the Anglo-Indian woman who was not just at par with her husband, and you know what I mean, because often times they outpowered their husbands and still do. The Nobel Laureate William Golding said, ‘I think women are foolish to pretend they are equal to men, they are far superior and always have been’. And I agree with him! When there is a medical issue, when something is not working,alleyesturntoMummy.Whenthereis
a serious problem and needs to be tackled, again it’s Mummy. And in many cases, our Anglo-Indian girls have actually been the primary breadwinner in a family. I am so happy that I went through many years of my life when my wife earned more than me. I felt so good about it. My non-Anglo- Indian friends made fun of me; my Anglo-Indian friends congratulated me!
They only give the Bharat Ratna to individuals, but they should open it up to groups of people;