LETTERS FROM INDIA.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 136, 8 June 1907, Page 9

LETTERS FROM INDIA.

A LADY'S IMPRESSIONS. TROUGH NEW ZEALAND SPECTACLES. MADRAS, March 20. Thank heaven, home is in sight. I don't think anything would induce mc to stay in India. The life of Europeans hero, of the ' women at least, is artificial to the last degree., though, properly speaking, tli-erc is no leisured class among them. The men, one and all. hold post under the Government or in a bank or other commercial concern. Of course, they are always superior officials with a number of natives under them, consequently they and their families assume an importance that they could have nowhere else. Most of them never settle down to the life, but merely exist from one furlough to the next, and eagerly look forwrad to the day when it will be possible to retire ou a liberal pension. The majority of them take only a hostile interest in the natives, and never tire of reciting the tale of their delinquencies. My cxpericnee_may have been an unusual one. but I have not yet met a European official who did not speak to his subordinates as if they were something immeasurably inferior to himself. The attitude towards the Eurasian population is quite as marked, and it affects even those whose families have been white for generations. Not "pucea" (genuine) European is a common saying. Tbe socalled society people exclude all but pucea Europeans from their functions, and both native and Eurasian gentlemen are refused admission to the clubs. In the army the same practice obtains. The wife of a European officer in a native regiment will tell you: "So-and-So called on my husband. He is an officer-in his regiment, ! you know, a perfect gentleman: but I can't) invite him to my house! He is black, you know." Iv Madras and its, neighbourhood this antipathy is riot ex- | pressed so offensively as it is further north. There it is usual for Europeans, I especially women, to speak of tbe natives las "black" or "niggers.'' As a matter of fact, many are so fair of skin that in European dress they would p.;.-.-s muster anywhere outside of India. The wonder to*me is that the people, submit to the indignities that are put upon them. "Of course, the British are not numerous, aud they are concentrated in a few places, so that the mass of the people never comes in contact with them, and consequently knows little of their -arrogant ways. .Moreover, the belief in fate, or destiny, is so strong that the. average native attributes all his evils to the gods, and no doubt lumps the Britisner in with, the ""-rest..' . " •* -!•■ -•'-» .-.-: v ■....-..-•;--.• When I first came to India the-pictnr-esqueness and simplicity of the life charmed mc, and I more than once thought of suggesting that if you or any friend wanted to try "the simple life"

his was the e-ountry for you. Only yes-

erday I was in the Bank of Madras. The previous day was a holiday, so that tlie -lace was crowded with sowars (moneyendcrs) and ehett-ies (merchants). Many cf these men would be wealthy, even as we reckon wealth, and yet nothing in their way of living would give any indication of their means. A Gugsrati, one of the wealthiest sowars in the city, strutted about and puffed out his chest as if he owned the bank. His dress consisted of the usual white cotton cloth that forms the trousers or skirt that clot_s the legs, a long white muslin gown, a cross between a night-shirt and a dress-ing-gown, and a small blue turban. The total cost woulel be. 10 rupees at the outside. Of the others, some wore white cotton coats in addition to the cloth, but most favoured a cloth for the bottom garment, a. second one folded across the body so that most of it was left uncovered, and the head was ban?. At the most the cost of the two cloths would be be three rupees (4/). The chetty. if he does business on a large seal?, will have a house of five or six rooms, situated in a narrow, crowded street, and surrounded by the poorest neighbours. He may or may uot have a little furniture —a couple

of chairs, a tabL?, a bed, a cupboard or

two for clothes, and mirror—but these things are not essential, and mostly serve for "pomp." All that he and his -family require are -a few mats for sleeping on, some brass or carthenwai_- pots for cooking purposes, several brass plates for food, and a few drinking ves.sels. At meal times he diverts liimself of all superfluous clothing and sits down upon the mat his wife has spread for him.. Brass dishes con-

taining his curry and rice, or whatever food he takes, are placed be-

fore him. and he eats his fill, lifting. the food to his . mouth with his hand. "Nothing could be simpler than his requirements. Ko custom demands that hi? should live iv style, and he makes no attempt to outvie his fellows, except, perhaps, in the matter of wedding festivities. Of course, there are some wealthy natives who follow European customs aud live iv splendid fashion, but these form only a very small 'proportion of the well-to-do class. The sum and substance of all this means that I have come to the conclusion that the simple life does not tend to progress. India has known something of civilisation for centuries, yet only a comparatively small number of her people enjoy the blessings that civilisation should bring. Quite twothirds of the population are engaged in agricultural pursuits, the farms averaging from two to five acres apiece. The usual dwelling is a mud hut, often a mere hovel with the entrance so small that one must go down on all fours in order to get in. The. methods of agriculture arc painfully primitive, and the implements would excite the scorn of

a New Zealand baby. The plough consist of two rudely-shaped pieces of wood, to one of which is affixed a piece of sharpened iron: four or five rough wooden pegs fixed in a framework supply the harrows, and where ambition rises to the height of a drill, two bamboo tubes with pointed ends are lashed to a crossbar on which the bag of seed rests. By toiling late . and early the ryot manages to eke out a scanty return, which barely suffices to keep his family alive. Year by year the land grows poorer, because he has no capital v wli_-jT_it_i Jo. i_o_) _ye, it, iAgxicul-

tural commissioners report that in nonscientific farming the Indian cultivate* has nothing to learn, and anything else is out of His reach. The only manure his land ever gets is the stubble remaining from the previous crop or the leaves and branches which he gathers where he can, and ploughs into the soiL All cattle manure is carefully gathered, mixed with a little straw, and made into cakes, called bratties. These, are tha chief firing used throughout India. The native always looks rather to the fewpence he may immediately make by the sale of these than to the future bene fit he may reap by allowing the cowdung to remain on the land. You will readily understand how I feel as I travel about India and see these tilings. When I speak of them 1 am assured that these people are much better off .than tlie poor in Great Britain, that the climate is warm so that they do not suffer from cold, that all they want is food, and that they are quite liappy and contented. Well, if we really believe these tilings, what's the use of our Western civilisation? The truth is that the problems India offers are so difficult as to seem almost impossible- of solution, at least to the conservative powers that direct the destinies of the hind. Every day I feel more' and more thankful that I belong .to a country so new that at present the people have its future iv their own. hands. If any New Zealander wants a useful lesson, let him come to India and see how, while tlie country, judged by its commerce, is growing wealthier every year, nearly two hundred million of people are "living in the direst poverty. You will think that I have victimised you in order to relieve my own feelin,, and I must confess it is true, but outside the mission house I get no opportunities of airing these opinions. "'lt doesn't pay to trouble about these thinss," a gentleman said to mc- There are no public questions that one can take an interest in, and, with the exception of the missionaries and some of the higher Government officials, very few take any interest in t_ welfare of the country* or its people. The usual topics of conversation are the heat and tbe arrangements for spending the summer at a hill station- Dinner parties are the favourite method of entertaining one's friends, and, according to an. expert in these matters, the guests are usually bored to death except in those houses where the hostess follows the accepted rule. "Set 'em down to bridge, ply thenr with drinks, and let 'em bust." But if I go on any longer I'll be betraying secrets that ought to be inviolable.