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Chapter 7

THE ANGLO-INDIANS OFCALCUTTA:

AN INTERVIEW OF RUDOLPH L RODRIGUES

Nandini Bhattacharya

The Anglo-Indian community has been most visible in the schools andoffices of Calcutta. During the colonial age, viewed by the colonizers eitheras bulwarks of the colonial elites, or as lurking threats to their power, theywere subject to a ‘frequently shifting set of criteria that allowed themprivilege at certain historical moments and pointedly excluded them atothers’.1 Scholars have argued that, with the growth of ‘scientific racism’in nineteenth century Europe, a transformation occurred in therelationships between the British rulers and the Anglo-Indians – ‘the“hybrid” became a trope for moral failure and degeneration, and led tothe increasingly negative evaluation and status abasement of Anglo-Indiansby British elites in India’. The introduction of technologically modernareas of occupation like the railways and telegraph in India gave the Anglo-Indians a specific social niche of their own. Many of them found jobs inthese industries which were entirely new and therefore, unlike almost allother professions practised in India, had no caste identified with it. Theirawareness ‘of themselves as distinct from the surrounding Indianpopulation, with a common language (English) and a common religion(Christianity), as well as other shared cultural attributes’2 encouraged themto keep themselves to the central parts of the city, where the schools andchurches were. In recent years, though, the rising real estate prices havecompelled them to move to outlying suburbs of the city, like the Anduland Metiabruz areas. Though the emigration of Anglo-Indians beganduring the colonial Raj, the numbers greatly increased after its end, with agreat many emigrating to Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdomand Canada. The issue of emigration is of extreme significance today in

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the community of Calcutta. The considerably reduced communityremaining in India is mainly concentrated in the eastern and southerncities like Calcutta and Chennai. Harry MacLure, who lives in Chennaiand publishes a community magazine, estimates the total number of Anglo-Indians in India today to be approximately 100,000.3 The most importantaddress of this and of many other minority communities of the city is BowBarracks where 132 families of the Anglo-Indian community live.

Yet, in recent years, the waves of migration appear to be declining,and as the economy ‘opens up’ with globalization, the Anglo-Indian youthare finding employment in the hospitality industries. Naturally proficientin English, they are preferred in hotels and airlines, and many are movingon to own restaurants and beauty parlours. Bollywood pop has provedto be an easy unifier as the youth move out into mixed neighbourhoods,dating outside the community and celebrating Hindu festivals. As BarryO’Brien, a famous Calcuttan says, ‘We are imbibing local cultures, andlocal cultures are imbibing ours. The Anglo-Indian is happy to be a partof the new India.’4

Professor Roderigues, who uses Bangla idioms and phrases with easeas he talks about his community, has been a teacher of InternationalRelations in Jadavpur University in the city. Nominated as a Member ofParliament for the sixth Lok Sabha, his life embodies the politicalenthusiasm and intellectual restlessness that is often recognized as beingpart of the Calcutta culture.

The InterviewNandini Bhattacharya: You have been in Calcutta since birth. Could you tell ussomething about your childhood?Rudolph L Rodrigues: Yes, I am born in Calcutta, and as you say in Bangla,‘Ami to ei matir i manush’ (I am a son of the soil). Most of my upbringingwas in North Calcutta – which is the real Calcutta. I grew up in Belgachhia,studied in Calcutta Boys’ School, and went on to teach there. I grew upamong friends who came from other communities and whom I neverthought to be different from me in any way. That thought never enteredmy mind. When I was about sixteen and a half, I started my workingcareer as a teacher.NB: Sixteen and a half?RLR: Yes. And there was a boy in my class who was 18. In those days thatwas possible. Today, there are age bars, but there was none then. I wentfor further studies. During my higher studies I lived in a place called BeniGhosh Bylane, off Beadon Street near the Scottish Church area, Hedua.

The Anglo-Indians of Calcutta 145

So, that was once again old Calcutta. My friends were mostly from outsidethe Anglo-Indian community, but I never felt any differences.

I had said the same things in the interview with Hindustan Times. Theywanted to know how I felt as a minority. I told them that I have to pinchmyself to be reminded that I really belong to a minority, – to a communitywhich is really small. I don’t think you can even call me cross-cultural,because that implies a movement from one culture to another, – you arebridging it. I am hardly conscious of the fact that I am within two cultures.My father spoke Bangla better than I do. He worked in the Tramways.NB: You were involved in politics?RLR: Yes. I had got involved in political activities – something veryCalcuttan. Strangely, that was the first time that I really became consciousof my own people, the Anglo-Indians, as my own community. Of course,everyone said my joining politics was very unusual. An Anglo-Indian andpolitics?! You see, I am not talking of a mere nomination, but actual politics.I was a member of VSP, the Vraja Socialist Party, Jayprakash Narayan’sParty. I was hyper-active, and used to campaign. I was elected. I remembersitting on the grass in Hazra Park when I was selected as the President ofthe All Bengal Socialist Students! It’s true that compared to the others, Ihad an unusual background, but nobody really treated me as different, –possibly because I didn’t stick out as someone who didn’t belong. And Iwas happy about that. So, my community was sort of my personalbackground.NB: You did not have any problems being a part of mainstream Calcutta?RLR: No problems. Not just Calcutta, I think Bengal itself is differentfrom the other states in many ways, – and I have some theories on whythis particular city is so different. You see, Calcutta was earlier the capitalof India. So, it has been one of the most cosmopolitan cities in India formany years, and still is. It is a great mixture of people coming from allover the world and other parts of India as well. So the consciousness thatdivides people caste-wise or pradesh-wise is not present in as acute a formhere as it is in some other parts of India. The other reason is possibly thatthe more ‘intellectual’ a people are, the less caste-conscious they will be.There must have been some truth in the belief that our Paschim Bangla isthe intellectual capital of India: what Bengal thinks today, India thinkstomorrow. The universities, the coffee houses, – the intellectual temper ofthe city has always been so evident!

Also we’ve had a very strong revolutionary movement in Bengal. Theearliest nationalist revolutionaries were here – and revolutionaries are notconscious of divisions on the basis of caste, colour or creed. Another factor

146 Calcutta Mosaic

why we are less divisive than other parts of India would be the legacy ofSocialism that has become almost a part of the city.

As a little boy, I used to dream that our country and people would leadthe world. I still believe in that dream. Hearing this, my political colleaguesused to say, ‘mathay chhit achhe’ (something is wrong with his head). Thereis everything here, but it is this divisiveness that has spoiled us. Continuationof the caste system through reservations has added to this. When theconstituent assembly was meeting to make the constitution, Ambedkarwanted abolition of the caste system. Complete abolition. But MahatmaGandhi didn’t. He wanted the amelioration of the downtrodden, thereforemaking it possible to perpetuate the caste divisions. The best way to doaway with the divisions is what Mayavati is doing now! No person is goingto get a concession or financial benefit for belonging to a caste, but willget one if s/he is economically backward. That’s the criterion. There aredivisions within the Christian community too, and to diminish its ill effects,we began what we called the Tea War. Say, for example, in this office, wehave six people coming from six different Christian backgrounds. As youhave the Shias and Sunnis, we also have lots of divisions. And deliberately,by policy, every now and then, we all sit together and eat. It’s not a cross-cultural attempt, nor an attempt to bridge the divide. The bridge wasalways there, but you are conscious of the tag that holds the two sides ofthe bridge. Perhaps the reason lies in our mixed origins as well. We wereborn out of intermarriage. So inter-cultural mixing is a natural feature ofour community. I too married outside my community. My wife is fromDelhi, she speaks Hindi. Intermarriage is natural, and means that thereare fewer divisions within our minds.NB: You have been so much more involved in politics than the Anglo-Indiancommunity usually is. How did the others take it?RLR: In the words of one of my school masters, I am an Eskimo in Africa.Yet strangely, they had said something which I felt was wrong at that time,but it has emerged in the long run as somewhat true. I was involved inactive politics but not in community politics. My community was steadilyheading downhill. Then, one day I got an appeal from some non-Anglo-Indian neighbours – What are you doing?! You are doing national politicsbut your own community is going down. I had said that I did not thinkmyself as an Anglo-Indian only. But they disagreed and told me that Ishould help them also. Then, some of the young in my community gottogether and elected me leader. But there was an Opposition too – andthe main objection that they had against me was that I did not belong tothe community. Possibly they felt that this man who does not smoke ordrink – I only drink what the fish drinks –, does not go to a party, and is

The Anglo-Indians of Calcutta 147

actually involved in mainstream politics, is too different from us Anglo-Indians to lead our community.NB: Would you agree with the view that no community should be treated separatelyor differently from the others?RLR: My view is, if you love the country, you love everybody in thecountry, including the Anglo-Indian community. To find ways to improvethe lot of only one particular community is not my policy.NB: How would you define the evolution of Anglo-Indian community in Calcutta?They were a very visible presence at one time, especially in schools. But now they areno more as vibrant a presence.RLR: To answer your question we need to look at two different aspects.The first aspect, as I told you at the beginning, is that the Anglo-Indiancommunity, like other minority communities, has certain features typicalof a minority community. If I look at the situation objectively, I feel that aminority group will have some characteristic features, but an Indianminority should also have traits that make it Indian. These two sets offeatures are likely to be distinctly different. Now, what are the traits thatmake us Indian? And this I feel was one outstanding trait, which no othercommunity in this country had – usually people think of themselves as‘Amra Bangali’ or ‘Bihari’ or ‘Kashmiri’ – the Anglo-Indians would be morelikely to look upon India as their home, and not Calcutta. So that was anasset. This feeling came partly because the Anglo-Indians got specialbenefits as a minority. Also because they were in positions which controlledthe infrastructure on which the country was run – the railways, post offices,almost everything was manned by them. When I went to Delhi even aslate as in 1970–1972, among the operational Air Marshalls and Vice AirMarshalls, 15 out of 70 would be Anglo-Indians. The Vice Chief of Staffwas an Anglo-Indian. As far as the national infrastructure was concerned,we were assets. But not many were academically inclined, our social lifebeing distinctly one that placed a high value on dancing, music and clublife. So, in the new set up that came after Independence, we could notexpect to hold the same clout. Also, the special reservations werewithdrawn. I did argue for reservations for my community then. Myopinion was that the quotas should be retained for some more time, andthen phased out gradually. I had felt that this would give the Anglo-Indianstime to stand on their feet. Say, after every five years, if there is a 20 percent reservation in the Railways at a certain level, you make it 15 per centand then 10 per cent. I still feel that if that had been done, then thecommunity would not have suddenly lost their jobs. Hence, immigrations,and all those ‘vibrant’ people whom you remember, – off they went. Today,we have only over 20,000 of them in the city; at the peak we had 400,000.

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Many also went abroad because they felt a sense of loyalty to the colonialrulers. I remember Gandhi, when he spoke in the Park Circus Maidan, –it was in 1946 – something that I will never forget. I don’t remember thecontext, but he said – I don’t know why – that this Anglo-Indiancommunity, if it really wanted to, could have been the leaders of thecountry. If I try to understand the rationale of that statement, I couldperhaps say that if you look at all the revolutions that have occurred inplaces like Latin America, leadership has come mostly from mixedcommunities. Perhaps Gandhi recognized that the Anglo-Indian had anall-India attitude, not a parochial one. Also, many of us controllededucational institutions and education is one of the main areas of power.We were the ones fluent in English. One may not like it, but English wasthe language that held India together at that time. Also, you could dependon us for continuous service. Everybody else other than us go on strikes.It is not that s/he doesn’t support the cause, but we have an attitude, andI think it is a correct attitude, – win your battles without strikes. Striking asa last resort is fine, but as a first resort it means you are a shirker. When Ibecame the President of the student body of Calcutta University, the firstrule I made was – ‘No Strikes’. Looking back at all these plus points, I canonly regret that the potential displayed by the Anglo-Indians has not beenachieved. We could have done a lot, – we could have. Even now, there areplaces where you get a regional kind of favour. People prefer to employthe Anglo-Indian because they know that the work will be done. But, ofcourse, if you employ an Anglo-Indian who is into club-life, then chancesare you won’t find him at work most of the days. We have that greatdivision. It’s not a class division, but one of upbringing. Some prefer work,some partying.NB: Are you saying that there are two kinds in your community?RLR: No! All are the party-going kind. The whole community, exceptodd members like myself, are inclined to social life. In that set up, youalso have people who are Mr Dependable. And that’s an asset.NB: What do you feel about the migrations that are taking place among the youthtoday?RLR: Yes, most are trying to go abroad as soon as possible. Theconsequence is that, when they go for interviews here, the employers arenot confident about employing them. I tell my people – I give you a joband two years later, you emigrate! What happens to the organization then?Very often the interviewer is aware that the Anglo-Indian may not be herelong. But this was true till about fifteen years ago. Now, things are changing,because the interviewer himself is planning, ‘How am I going to emigrateto America?’ The same stupid weakness that was in our community. This

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is no longer a problem among the Anglo-Indian youth only! The influenceis not limited to a fascination with the West alone, even the forte of thecommunity – dancing – has touched first the Sindhis, then the Punjabis,and now our own Bengali boys have picked it up. I can say this openly,that instead of us learning the right things from the rest of India, the resthave learnt the wrong things from us! When you imitate or worshipanybody, sooner or later you end up with the same problems. The morethe club life has become a part of the lifestyle of not just Anglo-Indiansbut other communities of Calcutta as well, the divorce rate has gone up.This does not mean that divorce is necessarily wrong.

In my community we had outstanding men at different levels. We alsohad outstanding criminals! There was this chap called Pinto – a Bengalibook had been written on him too – Pinto Saheb – he was a wizard atopening locks! We have all kinds of fellows including some great men andwomen who have served our country.NB: You are into community service now?RLR: Yes, we run a guest house here, which is also a centre for the poor.The place was running at a loss when I came in, but now we’ve successfullymade a profit of 60 lakhs. We have had the buildings recently painted,new buildings are coming up. There is a very old saying – if you want todo anything successfully in life, you must have two things – clean handsand straight eyes. That’s it.NB: Tell us something about the women of the Anglo-Indian community. They’revery special since they were India’s first professional women.RLR: Women are always better in most communities.NB: They were the first working women of Bengal.RLR: Very true. They make very good teachers, nurses and secretaries.I’m sure that they make very good wives too!NB: One more question. Does the Anglo-Indian community feel that they had beenwronged in any way?RLR: Some do feel wronged, but I would argue that their feelings arebased on incorrect reasoning. There is a fellow who lives down my street.He has no income, so some people from my community have madeprovisions for his diverse needs. But now, he thinks that it is his right! Andhe behaves in that manner. He fires at the person who brings him his foodif it is not as warm as it should be! So, I think everybody has to earn theirway, otherwise you do not appreciate what you get. If some of mycommunity believe that they have been wronged because at one timethey had jobs which are no longer open to them alone, I think there issome problem in their thinking. One comment has stayed with me – it hastaken the Anglo-Indian community a hundred and fifty years or more to

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realize that they are really Indians; now, if it takes the other communitiesslightly more time to accept that, don’t be surprised. I think there’s a lot oftruth in this.

NOTES1 Stoler, A L, ‘Rethinking Colonial Categories: European Communities and

the Boundaries of Rule’, Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 31, No.1, 1989, pp. 134–61.

2 Caplan, Lionel, ‘Colonial and Postcolonial Hybridities: Eurasians in India,’IIAS Newsletter No. 30, Research and Reports, Research: South Asia,International Institute for Asian Studies, March 2003.

3 Biswas, Soutik, ‘Anglo-Indians Defy Stereotypes’, BBC News, Calcutta, 12August 2007. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/6932623.stm],accessed on 10 November 2007.

4 Ibid.