SOME INDIAN SERVANTS.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 19 June 1914, Page 2

SOME INDIAN SERVANTS.

Servants in India, individually, are •-heap, but their caste laws are such that it takes a large number of j -hem to form an establishment. 1 There may be 10 to 12 servants in I t nn Indian bungalow, whose work | could easily be performed by a cook. ' i a maid, and a coachman-gardener ' in England, so that in the long j '<■ run servants are a large item in ! every Indian household. i Very few of them will perform— 1 even temporarily—the duties of other < servants, as this involves a breach j ( of their caste laws. For instance, 1 the mehta (sweeper) will do nothing l else but 'sweep out the bungalow, '■ ! clear away slops, etc., and it would , 1 be quite impossible to get any of 1 the other servants to do his work, j ? This rule applies to every servant in ' the household. < These same caste laws prevent -them—except the sweeper, who is of 1 the lowest caste of nil—from eating ] the remains of meals, etc., but they ' do not scruple to appropriate part of their master's meal before it is .' placed on the table. Indeed, one ( can be practically certain that they are providing food for some lav- ' oured few among the servants, al- ' though they were supposed to pro- ( vide their own. • There Bearer is the principal ser- c vant in every bungalow, and, be- ' sides acting as valet to his sahib, he supervises the other servants, and looks after the bungalow generally. 7 He is often allowed—especially by bachelors —to purchase such neees- 1 saries as tea, sugar, soda-water, be- ( sides many other small items, and a newcomer to India often pays very £ heavily until he gets used to their * little ways. As an instance of this, '•■ I may say that, although living by myself, my first month's supply of ( tea was 141b5., and of sugar HOlbs. c Afterwards, when I understood the^e ( things better,- these items were cut f down to lib. tea, and filbs. sugar. ( The bearer receives "dasturi" (com- ( mission) on everything that is bought for use in the bungalow, and l it is no uncommon thing i'ok him l to request his sahib to refrain from ! buying from a certain man, as lie ' will not give suilicient commission. 1 The cook is in most cases a Mo- l hammedan, and he, like his brother, ] the bearer, makes purchases in con- ' jiection with his department, and 1 likewise receives his perquisites, especially at first. He usually brings ; his accounts to be checked after din- ( ncr at night, and one is often a ma- ! feed to learn, according to the cook, I the enormous amount, of'food one has ■got through" during the course of the d ay. '-''■f. was startled to hear on one occasion that during the course of the day I had consumed eighteen eggs, and I asked the cook to account for them. 'He did so satisfactorily—so far as I knew—up to a certain point, but, having seven left in the end, he calmly told me he had put them in the soup. i This was too much for even me, and I cut this item out, whereon he assumed the usual "injured innocent" expression and talked to me in such a way that I am not sure to this day whether he had to pay for those eggs out of his own pocket or not. i The "Chuprassi" is a messenger, ♦mother part of his duty being to 'toalk in front with a lamp when one is out at night to keep away snakes. 'This ia very necessary in the rnofussil (country) as it is impossible to go out at night during the rains and cold weather without meetingsnakes. These men usually obey orders to the letter, and are, to a certain extent, bullies. I remember on one occasion telling a " chuprassi" t.o inform a certain native that I would like to speak to him. To any amazement he brought him to me with his hands bound behind his back and looking considerably the "worse for wear." Wher* 1 asked the reason he simply said "He refused to come." Chuprassis are, also, often moneylenders in a small way, and in connection with this a very amusing thing happened. It was usual for the servants to show themselves every time I came in to meals. I missed the "masalchi" (dish washer and general helper in the kitchen) for several days and casually inquired from the bearer as to what had ' become of him. He immediately began to snigger, and it may be incidentally remarked that most white people in India do not care to be "sniggered" at by their bearers, so I ordered him to bring the masalchi I to me at once. He thereupon burst } out laughing and tried to explain, liy this time, however, I was annoyed and would not listen to his j explanation, so he brought the ' missing one to me .... as naked i as he was born. j On inquiry I learned that the ma- ! salchi had been sent to the bazaar with a ten rupee note, to make < some small purchases. On get 1 ing ! there he hagan to gamble and t here- ! by lost four rupees. He —not daring, to come to me without the correct j change—then went to the chuprassi and borrowed the necessary amount, whereon he returned i'l to me. Later, however, it occurred to the ! chuprnssi that he had no security ' for his money, so, as the erring one sould give him none, he appropriated the clothes that the masi-ilchi was wearing, and, incidentally, the only ones he had and, moreover, refused , to give them up until I guaranteed : that the money (4 rupees with 2 annas per rupee, 2d. in Is. dd., per iveek interest) would be deducted from the next month's pay. The " Dhobi1" is the man *"who washes the clothes. These are usually

cleaned nt some tank (pond) by being beaten on a stone, so that it is easily understood that clothes last a very short time in India. The tanks at which they are washed are often nearly dried up during the hot weather and many cases of cholera, among white people are traced to this cause. The "Chankida" is the person who is supposed to keep watch over the bungalow and compound (garden) at night. I say supposed, advisedly, as he most certainly spends the greater part of the night asleep, and one often wishes that he would sleep during the whole of the night as, when he is going his rounds, he usually has some peculiarity which keeps his master awake. This may take the form of a particularly irritating cough or a habit of challenging some imaginary thief, in a deep bass voice, as he is passingone's bedroom door. The "Hhisti" —or Water Carrier is the ser\ant who draws the water from the well, and keeps the bungaI low and 'stables supplied with it. iHe usually carries the water in a goat-skin bag slung over his shoulders. The true Rhisti caste are usually members of a curious guild—almost amounting to a secret society—and they have certain signs and tests whereby members can recognise each other all over the world. Death received while giving, water to wounded soldiers is certain salvation for their souls, and their bravery on the battle field is common knowledge to the British soldier in India. The "Ayah" usually the wife.' of the sweeper and the only female servant in an Indian household—acts either as maid to her mistress or nurse to children. They, however, frequently spoil children—which may account for the exceedingly impudent children oiuj usually meets in India —and have practically no control over them after the age of five or six. Owing to the children being continually with their nurses they usually pick up the Hindustanee language long before they can speak English, and it is quite a common j thing to find white children of five jor six years of age talking fluent j Hindustanee, while they can only speak a few words of their mother tongue. This, probably, accounts for that extraordinary accent known as "chi-chi," which Indian-bred children acquire, and that it is impossible to describe. —" Weekly Tele-

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