Page 52 - Demo

52 JANUARY’19-JUNE’19
THE REVIEW
Oh, to be an Anglo-Indian! It was the ‘90s, and home for me was the small town of Jabalpur with its large railway population,
many of whom were Anglo-Indians. It was hard growing up as an Anglo-Indian girl in sleepy little Jabalpur—as I like to think of it—despite the fact that we have a fairly large concentration of Anglo- Indians here. To be who we are, back in those days, was a challenge. One had the choice of fitting in or standing out, or achieving that subtle blend that allows one to enjoy the best of both worlds: the Anglo-Indian world and the truly Indian world. It was a challenge that not all of us sailed through
as easily. Many Anglo-Indian families lost their ‘Anglo’ selves as they attempted to blend into the deeply traditional Indian framework of the place. And many others stood out like sore thumbs because of their uniqueness and were often viewed as remnants of the British Raj, or more plainly, what the British left behind.
As a community we were, and in some instances still are, looked upon differently. Some thought we made excellent teachers, nurses and railway men while others viewed us with disdain and didn’t hesitate to voice their shock and horror
at the freedom we enjoyed and the way Anglo- Indian girls dressed, being bold enough to display their arms and legs in their sleeveless printed dresses. We lived through the age of ‘flower power’ and ‘bell bottoms’ and ‘drain pipes’. The local roadside Romeos ogled at the pretty, young girls who showed a bit of skin, followed them home, catcalled and whistled, and almost always gave them a hard time until they got beaten up by the girls’ brothers (if they were lucky enough to have any). Even some conservative women around us didn’t hesitate to run us down simply because their more conservative and often orthodox upbringings didn’t permit them the same freedom. It seemed to me to be a severe case of sour grapes.
In a Christian school with a largely non-Christian student population, I seemed to be a misfit. I
often felt I didn’t belong, not because of my faith but because of the difference in culture and the language barrier. The Anglo-Indian way and the Anglo-Indian culture is in a class of its own. I’ve often been asked, ‘What do you mean by Anglo- Indian culture?’ And then I would, to the best of my ability, explain the Anglo-Indian way of life, a most definitely daunting task until I finally gave up and learned to say, ‘You have to be Anglo to experience the Anglo way.’
My rather poor mastery of Hindi simply because we almost never spoke the language was more often than not a cause of ridicule when my classmates would break into Hindi and chatter and squeal in delight as it is common for teenage girls to do. I must mention that my Hindi has improved since then and, having lived and worked in Kolkata, I even speak a smattering of Bengali (with an accent of course). Going to school
in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, was a learning experience. Christ Church Girls School was a far cry from St George’s College, Mussoorie, where nobody ever resorted to communicating in Hindi at the time. My late father was the music teacher
there and I grew to be a tomboy with none of the ladylike behaviour and skills that I was expected to possess. My classmates would look at me with my roast sandwiches, potato chops, and pan rolls stuffed with mince and wonder how that sufficed to fill my stomach, while they shared their parathas, puris, sabzi and sometimes even rajma chawal. My family didn’t cook real food, they concluded. And when I took a slice of Christmas cake to school a lot of them wouldn’t eat it because it wasn’t eggless; something I had never heard
of before. Whoever made cake without eggs? Certainly not us Anglo-Indians!
Girls will be girls, and my classmates would discuss at length the expensive, glitzy salwar suits their parents bought them for Diwali and wonder why my clothes lacked any bling and were usually what they described as ‘plain’ and ‘too simple’. They wondered how I could survive in jeans and T-shirts and were gobsmacked to know that when
I wanted to go shopping, I got on my bike (a Luna in those days) and was off. When they wanted to shop, they waited for their mothers and aunties
to take them shopping. I could stay out after
dark, went to parties and dances with my family, sipped on the occasional drink with my dad after
a long day of spring-cleaning, and chatted freely with my male counterparts. While my non-Anglo girlfriends were resigned to helping their mothers in the kitchen, I was out buying cans of paint and painting the furniture. While they waited upon their parents to find them a suitable match, I took the liberty of finding one of my own. I was known as the ‘nakli angrej’ and was often asked how I was Anglo-Indian since I wasn’t fair with blue eyes and blond hair. I insisted otherwise, but the disbelief showed in their eyes especially since some of the other Anglo-Indian girls at school were blessed with blond hair, grey or green eyes, and looked a lot like they owned their European ancestry. They naturally qualified as being Anglo-Indian; I, with my brown skin and brown eyes, didn’t.
Life to me in those days was all about having a good time. I studied hard at what I fancied and didn’t bother too much with the rest. I didn’t need to top my class. I just needed to have what I now think of as a normal childhood. And in trying to be normal, I stood out like a sore thumb.
Today, as I walk down the street or shop at a local mall, I am amazed to see girls in skinny jeans and sleeveless tops, riding bikes or riding pillion and hanging onto young men with no inhibitions whatsoever. Yes, things are changing in modern India. Being a nakli angrej today isn’t so hard in some ways. Could it be that we aren’t as ‘nakli’ as we used to be or is it that the rest of the country has become a little ‘nakli’ as well?
And then I reach for that pair of skinny jeans and that sleeveless shirt for my daughter to try on as we shop!
Chanella Cubbins, Jabalpur (Chanella is a teacher and an author)
Things are Changing in Modern India
Things are Changing in Modern India