The Cantonment - The End of the beginning -2

1791 | 1926 | 1935 | 1952 

What to say, bugger!

Parade Ground Bangalore Cantonment

The first use of "Anglo-Indian" was to describe all British people who lived in India. People of mixed British and Indian descent were referred to as "Eurasians". Now terminology has changed, and the latter group is now called "Anglo-Indians" In the Government of India Act of 1935, an Anglo-Indian was formally identified as “a person whose father or any of whose other male progenitors in the male line is or was of European descent but who is a native of India.” The key points of that definition were retained when Anglo-Indians were listed as an official minority group in India’s constitution in 1950. Between 1952 and 2020, two seats were reserved in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India, for members of the Anglo-Indian community. These two members were nominated by the President of India on the advice of the Government of India. In January 2020, the Anglo-Indian reserved seats in the Parliament and State Legislatures of India were discontinued by the 126th Constitutional Amendment Bill of 2019, when enacted as the 104th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2019.

The last remnants of the Anglo Indian community and their culture are still visible in pockets of Bangalore; they evoke nostalgic and romantic associations of the quaint Cantonment that was established by the British in the early 1800s. For many who have studied in the many Bangalore schools in these areas, we have friends who have invited us home for their much-awaited Christmas Parties and served us a buffet of the most delicious food-Yellow rice and Meatball curry, cutlets, devil's chutney, roasted duck, pork ham roast, with the accompaniment of apple chutney and brinjal pickles and papadams. All this was served with sweet wine and an array of desserts of Kal-Kals and the rum-drenched Christmas pudding - fruit cake. Burp!

As the last reminder of the Anglo Indians and their culture, the monkey topped colonial homes with gardens that seem to be the last remnants of the colonial era. There have been several memories from this part that have been etched in our memories. From apple trees in the backyard, rose bushes on the lawns watered by Maalis. The Sahibs and Memsahibs who lived in another world, went to the club to play bridge and have the quintessential Gin and tonic. Horses and "Gaarys " carried them around the Cantonment to the Parade Cafe and the many other cabarets that dotted the areas. The "Ugly sweater" parties" and the sumptuous Potluck parties continue to remind us of the Jolly good days.

 

Artist: Archana Hande

Anglo Indian Lingo and Dingo Story,

Why Anglo Indians were called Dingo? Derogatory term for Anglo-Indians in particular, or Indians of mixed descent in general. Origin supposed to be from "dingo" Australian wild dog but more humorous origins exist is -- the people who 'dint go' to Australia after the independence were jokingly called 'dingos'. The Anglo Indians thought London was their home and when they were left behind by the British the 2nd option for them was Australia. Their desire to re-locate to Australia, actively seeking information about Australian culture or the Anglos who 'dint go'? is very well connected.

Patrick Wilson, the Cantonment boy, narrates the stories from his life that are vignettes of life in the bygone era. A faded sepia photograph in a dusty almirah smelling of mothballs and camphor. As told to Suresh Jayaram by Patrick Wilson:

Story - 1

There was a gentleman called Lal Kaka who loved the British so much that he was the chairman of the "Empire loyalist", a group of Bangalore citizens who worshipped the Sahibs. He was so faithful to the British Crown that he hoisted the Union Jack in his garden on Independence and Republic day without fail and played the "God save the Queen" on his gramophone, much after the British had left the country in1947. We were so naughty that we threw stones at his bungalow.

Story - 2

My grandmother was Mrs.Millicent Kohloff of Danish descent wrote a postcard to Mr.Narayan Rao, her "Verandah Tailor" who lived in No.3, Bread and Butter Street which had all the bakeries that sold all the goodies on Old Poor house in the Cantonment. I posted her postcard that requested him to come next week to stitch all her dresses. The women around in the area exchanged notes with each other about patterns and cuts of the "day frocks" and local gossip. Mr.Narayan faithfully came carrying his sewing machine on his shoulder and sat in the Verandah of our Bungalow stitching her dresses.

Story - 3

 

From the postcard collection of Martin Henry; Lalbagh

My mother Rita Wilson in the 1930s loved to go to the famous Lalbagh flower shows. She sent a postcard to Mr.David who had a garage of Horse-drawn carriages at the "Gharry House" down All Saint bakery three months in advance. The horse-drawn carriage came home on the designated day and took my family to Lalbagh, riding from Langford town and the steep uphill to the flower show for a picnic basket with Cucumber Sandwiches, cakes, and l cold lemonade on the lawns. We watched the beautiful flowers in bloom and heard the brass band playing at the Bandstand. 

From the postcard collection of Martin Henry,
Lalbagh Bandstand

Story - 4

I loved riding my cycle around town and watch the "Mud tank" full of lotuses and lilies when I was a child, I even saw young boys who couldn't swim drowning in these tanks, they used to get caught in the marshy waters and die, it was later made into the Hockey stadium.

The Sampangi Ramnagar kere was another large water body that supplied water to the Bangalore club and we saw bullock being washed; there were large coconut plantations and agriculture around the area, this became the Kanteerava Sports stadium. The Dhobhi ghat near the Garuda mall was very active with washermen washing and drying our clothes taken on donkeys, this was also drained to become the football stadium. We lost all the water bodies in the city, one by one to be developed into sports facilities.

 
From the postcard collection of Martin Henry designed by Anchita Kaul

Story - 5

Winston Churchill was posted in Bangalore when he was a young soldier and the United Service club, later known as the Bangalore Club, has a ledger that states he owned at the club a laundry bill of 13 rupees and 8 annas. Winston Churchill spent his leisurely time in Bangalore. Outside his routine military duty he was collecting butterflies, growing a variety of roses. it was exclusively created for British officers, and here as he owes the club 13 rupees for unpaid bills for his laundry, dated 1868 in the club's ledger. He rode his horse at the Military barracks in front of the Elgin floor mill on Hosur road. The horses were kept down the road behind the Johnson Market at the Arab lines. The riding was later shifted to the current Bangalore Turf Club.

Bangalore Club Account book showing an unpaid bill of Rs 13 

Gin and Tonic & Dewars

"From the streets to the halls of power, Bangalore’s liquor industry has shaped the city’s destiny for more than a century" - Raghu Karnad 

  

Artist Paul Fernadise, Watercolour

Image courtsey: https://apaulogy.com

While in Bangalore today the micro breweries see tons of people with arms around one another singing and dancing while swaying drunk from side to side, back in the time of the colonial rule, beer from dewars was a “health drink” and was strictly medical strategy to provide the troops of the Civil & Military Station.

Indians were shooed away from the dewars and it was a hang out spot for only the british soldiers that trooped out of horse drawn carriages. The kitchen was run by Richard the mechanic anna. He was a mechanic repairing all motor vehicles around Dewars bar, but when the bar opened, he ran into the kitchen to use all the magic he had in his hands to cook the mouth watering bread-crumb coated fish fillets along with all the beer snacks Dewars is famous for.

Every Gin and Tonic has a colonial hangover. We can recollect its connection to the British troops in India who fought Tippu Sultan, and were also fighting the Indian Mosquitoes with Tonic water, a refreshing drink infused with Quinine from the Cinchona tree, a Malaria drug to save them from the dreaded Malaria. The indigenous peoples of South America already knew about the healing properties of cinchona bark, but it was their European conquerors who first used the bark to treat malaria. The Cinchona trees were introduced in 1859 in the Nilgiris, Annamalai's, and Darjeeling by the British and was also stockpiled the drug which was most often unavailable to the common Indians.