Celebrating World Anglo Indian Day

Pulse

oi-Denise Baptiste

By Denise Baptiste

Monday, August 2, 2010, 17:28

India is rich in diversity and she has many communities that make her proud. In all those diversities , the Anglo Indian Community takes a place. Today, the 2nd of August , we celebrate “World Anglo Indian Day".

For many who may not not know the history of Anglo Indians, they are essentially urban dwellers like that of the parsi communities. These type of people have greatly spread to all parts of the world and still carry out their proud name of British ancestry and that of Indian blood. The Anglo Indians have scattered to parts of America, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and some of them still stay in India and are proud to call her 'Our Motherland'.

The Anglo Indian community is a very small one and their native language is English . An Anglo-Indian's British ancestry was usually bequeathed paternally ( from the father's side).But its said that Anglo-Indians as people who were of mixed blood descending from the British on the male side and women from the Indian side. In the levels of education the Anglo Indian community established a school system that was based on English Language.

Their school system, Anglocentric culture and their christian beliefs helped bind them together. Now in order to encourage the integration of this small community into the larger society, the government has stipulated that a certain percentage of the student body come from other Indian communities, but the constitution guarantees the rights of communities and religious and linguistic minorities permit Anglo-Indians to maintain their own schools and to use English as the medium of instruction.

They have good cuisine and famous for dishes like that of the 'Pork Roast', 'Lamb Curries', 'Ball Curries'(Meat ball) and various others. Their dress, speech and religion all served to further segregate Anglo-Indians from the native population. All Anglo Indians love to form social clubs and associations to run functions like dances on occasions of Christmas and Easter.