The head master was from England and all teachers were Anglo Indians. Portraits of British monarchs adorned the main hall. Speaking in English was compulsory and local languages were forbidden within the school premises. They were told that there were superior to the natives who believed in idol worship. Their sovereign reigned far away inEngland, which was the ultimate home. When he asked his mother, she told him that India had a great civilization more than 4,000 years old and that mathematics was developed here to reach Arabia and finally to Europe. When he repeated this in school, his friends made fun of him and told him that his mother was an Indian savage. One day he had to go to the toilet and he took a pail of water instead of some paper, and when asked by his teacher he replied that it was for washing. The teacher lectured him on civilized living and all his classmates made fun of him driving him to tears. He went home and railed against his mother for bringing him up as a savage. Vimala decided to let Gladys wipe instead of washing.
David rose to sergeant and apart from teaching the natives soldering and tending to the artillery guns, had to keep in close contact with the duibash to learn about the developments in Hyder Ali’s camp. Singaram the duibash who new the best places for nautch girls had returned from Mysore. He had bribed an officer under Hyder Ali who told him that Hyder Ali’s son Tipu Sultan was developing rockets where long cylindrical iron cases were filled with gunpowder for propulsion, and the conical head filled with either explosives or incendiaries. The rockets were not accurate and some exploded prematurely, and improvement on the design was underway. French mercenaries were helping in establishing foundries for manufacture of artillery guns and new Infantry units were being raised. David reported to his Company Commander, Major John Holmes, who scoffed at the idea of rockets. He did recommend to his superiors the need for strengthening the defences of the forward posts at Conjeevaram about 45 miles to the West, however, the East India Company was stretched in the Bombay and Bengal Presidencies and could not immediately spare any reinforcements.
William Roger admired his father’s bearing as a sergeant and the way soldiers snapped to attention when he passed them. He watched his father on the drill square barking out orders to smartly turned-out British soldiers. He wanted to join the army when he grew up but David wanted him to study and become a clerk in the services of the East India Company. Some of the British officers sent their Anglo-Indian children to England for education, which David could not afford and so wanted for his son the second best. William noticed that the teen-aged Anglo-Indian girls would go out of the way to attract the attention of British soldiers.
The soldiers contemptuously would call the males hanging around the girls half-castes and when he asked his father, he cringed and steeled himself to explain to William that he can never hope to enjoy the same privileges in the army as that of a British Sergeant because his mother is an Indian. He would have to join a native infantry unit and hope for accelerated promotion to Subedar, but the pay would be far less than that of a British sergeant. William later realized that the pretty Anglo-Indian girls would be out of reach and he would have to settle for ones in the lower order or a native girl. Gladys and William were lucky to have parents who advised them on the unpleasant aspects of racial prejudice and how to cope and live with it. There were many in the school, born out of wedlock, who were being taken care of in the orphanage without any one to advise them about the pitfalls of racism.
By 1770, Anglo-Indians outnumbered Europeans in India. They joined the native infantry units, and were stand offish with their native colleagues and tried to teach them the use of a fork, knife and spoon and advised them not to use their fingers when eating. They had an advantage when it came to promotions, as they knew English and could communicate easily with the officers. On the surface, all seemed well as the spit and polish of the drill square covered up the simmering discontent. As section commanders, they would give out orders sometimes in English and laugh when the natives did not understand. They would speak Tamil and Telugu with an affected English accent to show that they were different. The senior Subedar was the eyes and ears of the commanding officer and the Anglo-Indian Subedar would advice that all is well and that the natives must be kept on a tight leash and their heathen ways of worship discouraged. Not all this bolstered the self-esteem of the native soldier. The British officers, especially those recently arrived from England, were comfortable with the Anglo-Indians’ reassurances that the minor day-to-day administration was safe in their hands that the officers should concentrate on the big picture.
The Anglo-Indians did not like opportunity of a lifetime in e Singaram enjoying the confidence of David and the British Officers regarding Hyder Ali’s war preparations. They called him a pimp and asked if his wife was reserved only for the officers. They made fun of the way he spoke English and asked him if Siva appeared to grant his wishes while doing puja (worship). Singaram seethed and swore to get even. He noticed the way the Anglo-Indians made fun of native soldiers and warned David and the officers of dire consequences. David would hear nothing of it as his own son was an Anglo-Indian. The officers brushed aside the advice attributing it to jealousy. They were happy that the duibash and the Anglo-Indians would not gang up against the Britons.
Singaram saw an excellent opportunity opening up where he could peddle information to both the British and Hyder Ali’s forces. He must sit on the fence and ultimately team up with the winning side. During his visits to Mysore, he told Hyder Ali’s officers about the disgruntled native soldiers. He carried news to them about the Bengal Presidency’s ascendancy over OudhandBiharand that the British forces inMadraswere stretched. Singaram was handsomely rewarded.
The French had declared war on Britainin 1778, who firmly entrenched in Madrasresolved to drive out the French from their toe holds in India. Hyder Ali was an ally of the French and the British forces attacked the French at Mahe. Hyder Ali was waiting for an excuse, and in 1780 decided to attack Conjeevaram, a village 45 miles east of Madras and start the Second Anglo-Mysore War. The smoke from the burning village could be seen from St Thomas Mount and Colonel Ballie with a force of 2,800 was dispatched to Conjeevaram. David was to join two days later with a battery of oxen drawn artillery guns. As he was approaching the village, he saw soldiers running away from the battlefield. Anglo-Indian Subedar Bruce Anderson was in tatters and tearfully explained that all was lost and Colonel Baillie taken prisoner. Some natives had shot their own Anglo-Indian havildars and subedars. When he asked some natives, the natives replied that the Anglo-Indians never led from the front but tried to drive them from behind.
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