Anglo
Indians and the Problem of Marginality
Catherina Moss
“Our
history is important because we have been the largest, most interesting
experiment in genetics between East and West…” (Sylvia
Staub qtd. in Chhibber, n.pag.)
This
paper deals with the causes and effects of marginality on both Anglo Indians
and their foreign and Indian counterparts. The complex relation of marginality
to issues of identity and diaspora are also included along with an attempt to
apply Homi Bhabha’s theories and Raymond Williams’ structure of dominant,
residual, and emergent cultures to the problem of marginality.
A
brief mention of the definition and origin of the Anglo Indians is necessary
before one examines the issue of marginality with regards to this complex
group. The term ‘Anglo Indian’ was first used by Warren Hastings in the 18th
century to describe both domiciled Europeans and those of mixed heritage. By
the 19th century, the term was used to describe fair people of mixed
heritage while the darker ones were termed “Eurasians”. The present definition
of the Anglo Indian, according to the article 66(2) of the Indian constitution
is: “a person whose father or any of whose other male progenitors in the male
line is or was of European descent but who is domiciled within the territory of
India and is or was born within such territory of parents habitually residing
therein and not established there for temporary purposes only.” (Moore, n.pag).
The
Anglo Indian community came about as a result of intermarriages between the
British East India Company employees and native women which were encouraged by
the British during the period 1600-1750. It was hoped that this would forge
bonds of loyalty between the natives and the British as well as give rise to a
race destined to be the levers of the British Empire. However, political
instability after 1750 meant that the Anglo Indians were now looked upon with
suspicion and some like Richard Burton disregarded their existence completely.
Though
socially marginalized by the British so that they were rarely allowed into
clubs, and marriage with “half bloods” was frowned upon, the Anglo Indians
still resembled the British in their adherence to Western lifestyles and
values, religion and language. This according to Bhabha “unsettles the mimetic
or narcissistic demands of colonial power” and the “discrimination between…the
self and its doubles, where the trace of what
is disavowed is not repressed but repeated as something different – a
mutation , a hybrid.” This makes the “recognition of the colonial authority
problematic”[1]
The
British or the ‘self’ was wary of the “other” who looked and spoke like him but
was different from him. This is illustrated by the fact that while the Anglo
Indian women like the Princess de Tallyrand and the daughter of William
Kirkpatrick (who was praised in Carlyle’s Sartor Restartus) for their
beauty and were seen as objects of desire by the British, someone like Anglo-Indian
actress Merle Oberon, was forced to keep her identity hidden as Hollywood “codes
would have barred her from starring opposite the likes of Lawrence Olivier and
Paul Muni if they had known that she had been touched by the ‘tarbrush’
”(Haslam n.pag).
Yet
the community managed to prosper by aligning itself to the dominant culture of
the British. However, when the British left India after its independence in
1947,the very ‘Angloness’ of the Anglo Indians proved to be detrimental in the
new dominant community of Indians who had envied the Anglo Indians for their
reserved jobs and grants and were suspicious of their loyalties and morals. The
Anglo Indian community was now both culturally and socially marginalized in
their own country. Their shift from the dominant to the residual phase of
culture placed them in “the unstable equilibrium between foreign and indigenous
civilizations of India.” (Cressey qtd.in Grimshaw 228). They now perfectly
fitted the description of the marginal man characterized by Stonequist as
ambivalent, anxious, and displaying self contempt, inferiority complex, divided
loyalties and hypersensitivity and “poised in psychological uncertainty between
two or more social worlds, reflecting in his soul the discords and harmonies,
repulsion and attraction of these worlds one of which is dominant over the
other” (qtd. in Gist 362).
In
her memoir, ‘The Happy Days of My
Childhood’ (n.pag.), Esther Lyons recounts how she spent
most of her time with her own kind as the Indian girls refused to play with
her. When her friend Manju tries to get them to befriend her, Tanuja says,
“Look at her, she is so thin, maybe she has some disease. My mother says that
these Christian girls eat dirty beef meat and are never clean. I definitely do
not want to play with her.”
Another
example is also illustrated by Lyons in “He
Brought Me Flowers”, where the protagonist Karen is upset because her
fiancé, Rajeev’s family would not accept her even though she had visited their
house for years and was always invited to birthday parties. Her aunt and uncle
then try to convince her to migrate to England. Their views are depicted in the
following extract:
Aunty Mary: They would accept you any
day as a friend but never to be one of them. You cannot fit into their family.
They have the purity of the Indian race and heritage. They consider themselves
superior to us Christians and more so the mixed race Anglo Indians.
Karen: But why? In fact they all prefer
to send their children to Anglo Indian schools. They think so high of us when
we are teaching them.
Uncle Tom: They say that the British
left the country but left their leftovers for us.
Karen: That is mean! How can they? We
are born and brought up in this country. I don’t know any other country but
India as my own.
Aunty Mary: My dear you may love this
country but you are not accepted as one of the country because of your
religious differences and also because of your being part European…that is why
many Anglo Indians left India at the time of independence…there are no girls or
boys for our children to marry. We feel unaccepted all the time…Don’t waste
your life in this country where no one recognizes you for what you are. They
only think of religion, background and family rather than the individual. They
get their ideas from those Hollywood movies they see about us…It makes them
think that every Christian and Anglo Indian is free to make love and have a
relationship with only.
When
Karen finally makes her decision to leave Rajeev, his reaction is highly
ironical-
“I was warned that you Christians are like
that, never satisfied with one man. I did not think you were like them. I
thought you were different.”
Karen
replies,
“That’s
not true. In the first place, Christians are not all like that. You people
generalize it according to Western movies you watch. You have made your own
opinion about us. There are good and bad in every community and race…I am sure
that there are many bad ones in your own too! So stop generalizing. I want to
leave for your happiness and your family’s. I am sick and tired of listening to
their remarks. They will never accept me. It is best for us to part.”[2]
These
passages highlight the instability felt by the community in the newly
independent India where it faces a lack of acceptance and depicts a painful
struggle to combat stereotypical images of Anglo Indians. Migration was often
seen as a solution. Robin Roy, in his article, “Ronnie”, a tribute to the
legendary police officer Ronnie Moore stated that Ronnie “left for Australia
the moment he felt that political interference was on the cards which would
turn an honest police officer into a figure of fun.” (19). Similarly, in his
work ‘Hot Kati Rolls’, Velters Berkley states, “I left for England in 1984 and
moved to the U.S in the same year. I left because I realized that times were
difficult to make a good living. Yet I love my city.” (25). Times were indeed
tough. Many Anglo Indian men were unemployed due to cancellation of
reservations for Anglo Indians in the railways, police etc.
For
many Anglo Indians in India, the Partition riots served as a final sign to
leave India and migrate. Their experiences provide a unique insight into the
history of India. Although the marginality of the Anglo Indian community
protected them in most cases from the violence of the Partition, there was
always the fear that Indians would vent their resentment of the British on
them. Esther Lyons’ short story ‘Partition’ (n.pag.) illustrates this - Mr
Wright’s description of the violence in Punjab and Kashmir results in the
protagonist’s mother screaming:
“Stop
it! I don’t want to hear about these cynical tortures anymore. They are all
sick and sadist. I want to leave India”.
This
was the first time that her mother, who loved India, had voiced her intention
to leave the country of her birth.
While
those who were unable to leave experienced a feeling of being trapped, betrayal
and disappointment awaited many Anglo Indians who migrated to England (which
they considered as “home”) where they were treated like “social outcasts in the
promised land.” (Chhibber, n.pag.) Rudy
Otter’s humourous work,‘England! Here we come’ captures this sentiment when he
says:
“Perhaps
we expected a crowd of English people to garland and smother us with hugs and
kisses …Reality was different…The English scrutinized our brown faces and tried
to make sense of our language…Why don’t you go back to India?...”
Rejection
by the British in England led to a deep sense of confusion and sadness as well
as an identity crisis. (Otter,n.pag.). At the same time, the Anglo Indian
diaspora in Canada and Australia found it easier to fit in due to the policy of
multiculturalism. Esther Lyons’ in ‘Anglo Indians at the end of the twentieth
century’ (n.pag.)
states, “Even though discrimination and prejudice is the same as in India, here
is security and prosperity and a better future. The Anglo Indians are an
instinctively progressive, self sufficient and adjustable community; they have
been able to adapt themselves to the new situation in the new country, at the
same time keep links with the country of their birth.”
However,
the struggle to preserve and recognize their unique identity has continued to
be of concern to the community which has been marginalized for years.
Ironically, the Keralite and Meghalayan Anglo Indians have been forced to
accept the label “backward’ in order to receive much needed aid by the Indian
Government which has led to criticism by the All India Anglo Indian
Association. In this case the community must accept this label in order to move
forward and progress in life. (Lobo, n.pag.)
Similarly,
Anglo Indians have often been required to repress or ignore some aspects of
their unique identity in order to fit into the mainstream dominant culture.
This is clearly illustrated in the novel “Bhowani Junction” where Victoria
Jones is about to convert to Sikhism when she realizes that, “My name is
Victoria Jones. I was a chee-chee engine driver’s daughter.” (qtd. in Cassity, ‘Identity in Motion:
Bhowani Junction Reconsidered.’ n.pag. )
Conversely,
the protagonist’s father in Kathleen Cassity’s “Butterfly” (n.pag.), eats hot mango pickle and looks wistfully at the globe
while sipping tea as it is the only way he can acknowledge his Indian identity
in a land where he must repress it in order to fit in. Both father and daughter
feel like trapped butterflies and struggle to break free.
The
effects of marginalization of the community (residual) have now led to an
emergent culture which is proud of its identity and wishes to make its voice
heard. Such a change was anticipated in the setting up of McCluskiegunj. As a
present resident explains, “Anglo Indians didn’t have a place to go to at all.
They belonged nowhere...Therefore McCluskie thought they should have a native
place.” (Blunt n.pag.).
In 1939, the Colonization Observer wrote, “McCluskiegunj is our Mooluk. It is
the one place in the whole of India where we can live like Indians and yet keep
our individuality. The days of birth inequalities are past; the present is the
time for establishing our undoubted and unchallengeable right to India. It is
our birthright. There is no question of domiciliary rights; we belong to India
and India to us.” (Blunt n.pag.). Yet even here, lack of opportunity forced many
to leave.
According
to Professor Dean Wright (n.pag.), there are several
bumps of cultural surge at times when the group took its destiny into its own
hands and demanded it become something else. As far back as 1829, John Ricketts
took a petition to England and requested the government to provide better
benefits and stop the repression of 1785-1857. Thus attacks from outside served
to solidify the Anglo Indian community who for the first time enjoyed a
collective identity. Later Frank Anthony cited the elements of language and
schools as important elements of distinction for the identity of Anglo Indians.
The
position of Anglo Indians, in the theoretical context, may be related to
Bhabha’s conception of the “Third Space” or “inbetween space”[3] which is, according to Lewin, “the
point of intersection of the self and the other.” In this space between the colonizer and the
colonized, Anglo Indians comprise the “third party” and are neither the self
nor the other. “They belong neither here nor there.” Therefore they must “fend
for themselves and create their own identity.” It is this “theoretical space which allows for creative
construction of identity of this marginal group and resists the claim of the
West to brand it as the “other” as it can also identify with the self. Lewin
states that in their refusal to adhere to binary oppositions, Anglo Indians
reject complete identification with either the British or Indian and claim
their own subjectivity. (Lewin n.pag.).
This,
according to Cassity, is aptly illustrated in the novel ‘Bhowani Junction’
where the protagonist Victoria (Anglo Indian) realizes her true identity,
rejects both Ranjeet (Indian) and Macaulay (British) and shouts at Patrick and
Rodney. By giving her a voice and opportunity to resist, the author John
Masters, allows Victoria to claim her identity as an Anglo Indian and
“challenges the conception of the chee-chee whore”. Instead Victoria is “way
ahead of her time in her desire to make her own choices.” (Cassity, ‘Identity in Motion: Bhowani
Junction Reconsidered’, n.pag.)
Similarly,
while the character, Violet Stoneham has been heavily stereotyped in the film
‘36 Chowringhee Lane’, she is
nevertheless, according to Cassity, an example of Bhabha’s “unhomed” colonial
subject. The fact that Violet lives “somewhere in a purely physical sense”, yet,
figuratively, occupies a middle space or ‘border zone’, makes it “difficult for
her to know where she belongs socially and culturally.” In addition, Cassity
points out that such an example of displacement in post colonial India suggests
“Anglo Indian sensibilities have indeed been undervalued” and that he film is a
plea for Violet’s voice to be heard so that she (like the rest of her community
whom she represents) can emerge from the shadows to take their rightful place
in the land of their birth.” (Cassity, “Emerging from the Shadows” n.pag.)
While
the demand of mainstream life and the effect of marginality have given rise to
deep anxieties within the community about the loss of identity through
assimilation into the dominant culture and intermarriage with other
communities, there has also been a great emergence of pride and effort to try
and preserve their unique heritage. The publication of several books and
anthologies as well as the mushrooming of several informative websites and
blogs on the internet has created a new “third space” in the virtual realm
which unites members of the community based in different countries like never
before.
Many
critics therefore feel that the community will be able to maintain its unique
culture in the future. Megan Mills for instance does not “buy into the gloomy
statement that Anglo Indians are a dying breed of human leftovers from the
British Empire.” With their similar value systems, strong family ties and
propensity to be liked by others, Anglo Indians are now part of the “social
wallpaper rather than the freaks, romantic castaways or dinosaurs projected by
many journalists and writers.” (qtd. in
Chhibber.)
The
ability to become part of mainstream culture yet preserve the essence of one’s
identity is captured eloquently by Priscilla Clements’ (Amore) poem “An Anglo
who calls Australia home”:
“…Australia
has given us the chance to aspire
Achieve
to the hilt, whatever our desire…
The
heritage of “Bharat”, is still pleasantly present
We
mix with the Aussies, with our AI accents!!!
Prawns
on the Barbie, with a touch of spice
Served
with some pickle and Basmati Rice…
There’s
no keeping us down, we are a happy lot
Accepted
into Australia, as part of a melting pot!!!
…May
I say to all AI’s wherever you may be
Be euphoric of your Anglo Indian Family Tree.” (145-146).[4]
Works Cited:
i.
Berkley ,Velters. “Hot Kati Rolls.” Reach out magazine. June 2006.
(Published by CAISS.) 25. .Print.
ii.
Bhabha, Homi. The Location of Culture. London: Routledge, 1994. Print.
iii.
Bhabha, Homi. ‘Signs Taken for
Wonders.’ Pg 34. Web. 10 December 2012.
< postcolonial.net/@/DigitalLibrary/_entries/39/file-pdf.pdf
>
iv.
Blunt,Alison.“Memory, identity and productive nostalgia: Anglo-Indian
homemaking.”(2002): n.pag.
Web. 10 December 2012. <
http://home.alphalink.com.au/~agilbert/anglo-~1.html
>
v.
Cassity, Kathleen. “Butterfly.” The
Anglo Indian Wallah ,Vol 4 ,No 1. (2005): n.pag. Web. 10 December
2012. < http://home.alphalink.com.au/~agilbert/butter.html
> OR
< www.alphalink.com.au/~agilbert/butter.html
>
vi.
Cassity, Kathleen. “Emerging from
shadows: The “Unhomed” Anglo-Indian of 36 Chowringhee
Lane.” The International Journal of Anglo Indian Studies
,Vol 6 ,No 2. (2001): n.pag. Web. 10
December 2012.
< http://home.alphalink.com.au/~agilbert/chowri~1.html >
vii.
Cassity, Kathleen. “Identity in Motion:
Bhowani Junction Reconsidered.” The
International Journal of Anglo Indian Studies, Vol 4 ,No 1 .(1999): n.pag. Web. 10 December 2012. <http://home.alphalink.com.au/~agilbert/kat.html
>
ix.
Clements’, Priscilla. (Amore). “An
Anglo who calls Australia home.” Voices
on the Verandah: An Anthology of Anglo-Indian Poetry and Prose. Margaret
Deefholts and Sylvia. W. Staub, eds. New Jersey (U.S.A): CTR Inc. Publishing,
2004. Print.
x.
Cressey, Paul
Frederick. “The Anglo-Indians: A
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1935): 263-268. JSTOR. Web. 5 March 2008. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/2571259
>
xi.
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Case.” Phylon (1960-), Vol 28, No. 4. (4th Qtr.
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xii.
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of a Marginal Group.” The Journal of Asian Studies 18, No. 2.
(February, 1959): 227-240. JSTOR. Web. 5 March 2008.
< http://www.jstor.org/stable/2941684
>
xiii.
Hall, Stuart. “New
Ethnicities.” The Post-Colonial Studies
Reader. Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin, eds. U.K: Routledge, 2006 (second edition). Print.
xiv.
Haslam, Mark. “Queenie-smudging the
distinction between black and white.” The International Journal of Anglo
Indian Studies ,Vol 4 , No 1. (1999): n.pag.
Web. 10 December 2012.
<http://home.alphalink.com.au/~agilbert/queenie.html
>
xvi.
Kolenda,
Pauline. “Untitled Review of Marginality and Identity by Noel P. Gist and Roy Dean Wright.” Contemporary Sociology
Vol 5, No. 4. (July 1976): 498-499. JSTOR. Web. 5 March 2008. < http://www.jstor.org/stable/2063846
>
xvii.
Lewin, Erica. “Anglo Indian women:
Identity issues.” The International Journal of Anglo Indian Studies, Vol
1 , No 2 .(1996): n.pag. Web. 10
December 2012.
< http://home.alphalink.com.au/~agilbert/erica1.html
>
xviii.
Lobo, Ann. “The feel good factor of the
new ethnicity Anglo Indians of Kerela and Megalaya.” The International
Journal of Anglo Indian Studies ,Vol 2 ,No 1. (1997): n.pag. Web. 10 December 2012. < http://home.alphalink.com.au/~agilbert/art2.html
>
xix.
Lyons, Esther. “Anglo-indians at the
end of the twentieth century.” The International Journal of Anglo Indian
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Web. 10 December 2012.
< http://home.alphalink.com.au/~agilbert/est0399.html
>
xx.
Lyons, Esther. “Hope and Faith.” He brought me flowers. Extract in The Anglo Indian Wallah ,Vol 1 ,No 1.
(2002): n.pag. Web. 10 December
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xxi.
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“Partition.” The Anglo Indian Wallah
,Vol 3, No 2.(2003): n.pag. Web. 10
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Or < http://members.optusnet.com.au/~lyonsfab/article_partition.htm >
xxii.
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xxiii.
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>
xxiv.
Otter, Rudy. “England! Here we come.” The
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>
xxv.
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xxvi.
Williams,
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xxvii Wright, Dean. “The Anglo Indian fight for cultural identity.” The International Journal of Anglo Indian
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< http://home.alphalink.com.au/~agilbert/wri4.html >
------------------------------------------
Based in
Kolkata, Catherina Moss completed her B.A (English Honours) from Loreto
College, M.A (English) from Jadavpur University and B.Ed from St. Xavier’s
College. She taught English at the high school level for two and a half years
and recently qualified for lectureship at the college level in India. She has
participated in one international and two national seminars of which one of her
papers has been included in a book
entitled Cross Currents of The Modern Short Story published by Loreto
college & OUP. In addition, she has also written four short stories for a
weekly newspaper (‘The Herald’), an article entitled Anglo Indians: The
spirit within which was published by Reach Out Magazine (CAISS), and a book
review for Oxford Bookstore. Her interests include nature, photography,
travelling and all things Anglo-Indian. She can be contacted by email on cathmosse84@gmail.com
[1] See Homi Bhabha: ‘Signs taken for Wonders’ – The location of culture Or ‘Signs taken for Wonders’ pg 34. <postcolonial.net/@/DigitalLibrary/_entries/39/file-pdf.pdf >
[2] See
Esther Lyons: ‘Hope and Faith’ – He
brought me flowers. Extract in The Anglo Indian Wallah Vol I No I 2002
[3] See Homi Bhabha : ‘The commitment to
theory’- The location of culture.
[4] See Priscilla Clements (Amore): ‘An Anglo who calls Australia home.’- Voices on the Verandah: An Anthology of Anglo-Indian Poetry and Prose.