Of toilet euphemisms and secret vindaloo

Barry O’Brien captures the history, culture, and trajectory of the Anglo-Indian community

equally insightful. It delves into how the British discriminated against Anglo-Indians after biracial people in Haiti led a revolt against French colonists in the late 18th century. O’Brien speculates that the British would have probably failed to suppress the 1857 revolt without Anglo-Indian support. The community’s sacrifices during World War 2 also remain shrouded as the British drafted them as ‘Europeans’. Eurasians could not apply to many jobs after an 1882 resolution restricted the term “natives” to those of “pure Asiatic origin”. Neither did they receive the benefits Europeans did, resulting in poverty and unemployment.

While The Anglo-Indians talks extensively about community luminaries such as the lawyer and parliamentarian Frank Anthony, and Henry Gidney, an ophthalmologist and community leader, it also touches on lesser-known figures like Gloria Berry and Francesca Hart. Berry, an air hostess, received the Ashoka Chakra posthumously, becoming the first woman to receive the award. Hart ranked third in the 1994 Femina Miss India, behind Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai.

While the book’s delights are aplenty, they are often ensconced in reams of banality. The first two sections are crisp, though they occasionally get bogged in historical minutiae. In the next two sections, things go awry. Many essays are a litany of names, details, and anecdotes without a sliver of allure. Take the chapter

(1876– Present). It has a paragraph dedicated to the different names of the Anglo-Indian Association of Southern India over the decades and under which act it was incorporated. Such trivia could have easily been relegated to the appendices, of which the book has many. The surfeit of information is perhaps not an issue if the reader were to regard

as partly a reference book. However, these chapters’ sole redeeming feature is that they can be skipped since each dwells on one topic rather than adding up to a larger narrative. Besides, O’Brien’s characterisation of “Anglo-Indian traits” is misplaced. He quotes a handful of instances of individuals exhibiting a certain quality and then extends that to the whole community.

He repeats this pattern to demonstrate that Anglo-Indians are generous, god-fearing, friendly, “house-proud”, courageous, and enjoy “wholesome entertainment and having fun”, music, dancing, and going to the movies — as if these were remarkable revelations or unique to just one community. The evidence to buttress these contentions can be as confounding. Consider the line: “Sushmita, a leading doctor whom I call an ‘almost-activist’, admires the community for the natural way it treats women as equals, without making a hue and cry about it.” Why should a reader care what a random doctor has to say about how the community treats women? What is “natural” about that way? Who makes a hue and cry about these things that their absence is so remarkable? I wish O’Brien had injected academic rigour into these sections and drawn upon diverse sources rather than quoting whimsically or stating the obvious. These tracts might have been readable if they had been pruned or organised in a more cogent manner, for O’Brien can be an engaging writer. His joie de vivre and breadth of vision often shine through his prose, especially in the introduction, where he weaves a conversational style, Anglo-Indianisms, and lists to make a compelling case for why one should read the book.

In O’Brien’s recounting of the Anglo-Indian way of life, I found insights regarding cultural confluences, what we lose and gain with cultural assimilation, and identity markers in the homogenising bulwark of globalisation. The book marshals evidence for how the mixing of communities and cultures benefits everyone. And even as it dwells on one community, it puts into question notions of racial and cultural purity. As O’Brien says, “I don’t for a moment think of myself as being of mixedrace. I belong to one race — the Anglo-Indian race — which happens to be of mixed-race, like most other races of the world.” And if this engenders concerns about identity, O’Brien has the perfect riposte: “You can only find your roots in one place — under you.”

The Anglo-Indians: A Portrait of a Community

Barry O’Brien

568pp, ~999, Aleph

PORTRAIT: BEN MARTIN; MAIN PIC: JOHANNES SIMON/GETTY IMAGES One of the most important American artists of the Twentieth century, Mark Rothko (25 September 1903-25 February 1973) is famous for his large abstract paintings that feature deep colours in horizontal layers. But they are about much more than colour. “If you are only moved by color relationships, you are missing the point. I am interested in expressing the big emotions – tragedy, ecstasy, doom,” Rothko said. The painting in the picture is No. 36 (Black Stripe) from 1958.