The name is absent

INTRODUCTION

The wish to undertake this research grew from two studies
conducted by the researcher in 1986 and 1988. (1) In
these studies, the researcher had conducted interviews with
Indian Christians and Anglo-Indians (1986) and
Anglo-Indians only (1988), resident in Britain. This was
part of empirical research undertaken for the completion of
two dissertations. Their comments about their relatives and
friends who were Indian citizens, were peripheral to the
two dissertations. These discussions usually took place at
the end of an interview, when general comments were made
about Anglo-Indians still living in India.

Such comments were not unexpected as most Anglo-Indians do
return at least once to India after emigration to Britain.
Nostalgia and seeking out one's roots are the usual reasons
for such trips. Anglo-Indian visitors to India used their
childhood experiences of their social life in railway
"colonies", and in Anglo-Indian schools to draw their
comparisons with life in India today.

It was their perceptions of the decline of the Anglo-Indian
community that aroused the researcher's curiosity. How has
a community with such excellent schools failed in present
day India adequately to prepare its Anglo-Indian students
for a full and productive life in India? This was the
inspiration of this research.

The researcher is an Anglo-Indian who was educated in the
"European Section" of an Anglo-Indian Roman Catholic
Convent School in a suburb of Bombay, India. This English
language medium school was situated in Bandra on the island
of Salsette. It was owned by the Daughters of the Cross,
a Roman Catholic Religious Order founded in Belgium.

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