fluently. They were literate in English, but could not
read or write Kannada, which is the state language. When
the researcher asked them why their children had not
attended a well-known Anglo-Indian school in Bangalore,
which offered scholarships to Anglo-Indians, they
answered,
How can we send our children to the Frank
Anthony School? We are very poor. That
school is only for rich Indians. The money
they give us is only for the school fees.
What about the clean white uniforms? What
about travelling by bus? What about books,
pencils, exercise books? You know these
schools are very "pukka" [elitist] and we
just cannot afford the "extras" that are
needed just to attend the school.
The husband and wife had attended Anglo-Indian schools.
They had both dropped out of school when they were 15+.
They said,
When we think about it, we realise that we
just did not try hard enough. We both had
"freeships".
None of their three children had passed the school
leaving certificate examinations held in Class 10. The
children had failed to learn an Indian language and had
dropped out of school.
There was a quiet resignation about this couple and their
family. They agreed to their photograph being taken by
the researcher. (See Appendix 3, Bangalore).
Before leaving their home, the woman smiled and said,
At least we have our own front and back door
and we can lock them at night.
The distance between the two doors was twelve feet.
Thilljallah slum in Calcutta city, state of west
BENGAL
The researcher was not introduced to any of the Anglo-
Indian families in Thilljallah slum. She walked into the
slum and asked where the Anglo-Indians lived. She was
directed to a hut in the slum. The woman was pleased to
meet the researcher. She asked a few Anglo-Indians to
join her and the group willingly took part in the group
interview.
Thilljallah slum was selected for two reasons. First,
the researcher had lived in Calcutta from 1968-1973, and
was aware of the poverty of Anglo-Indians in this slum
through a charity called PROJECT '73. Second, Calcutta
was surveyed in the Baptist Mission Report in 1957-8.
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