CHRISTMAS IN AN INDIAN CANTONMENT

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 72, 18 December 1928, Page 22 (Supplement)

CHRISTMAS IN AN INDIAN CANTONMENT

(By a Memsahib.)

"The Sahib-Log ki Burra Din” —the big day of the white people—is heralded in by brilliant sunshine and the voice of the ayah murmuring, in a sleepy ear, “Memsahib, tea getting cold.” Water poured from a tin canister into a tin tub announces that more than the tea will be cold if the bath is kept waiting. Breakfast and the exchange of greetings, and Christmas Day has begun in India. The servants have decorated the bungalow in what they consider a suitable manner — mostly sprays of bougainvillia. Mistletoe grows in districts in India, but holly is difficult to procure. Presents from Native Tradesmen. Following breakfast comes presentations of flat, straw baskets filled with currants, fruit, globes of sugar, an iced, unwholesome-looking cake, and a pile of rupees. These are brought by tradesmen, and such like, currying favour. Discretion must be exercised in the acceptance of anything having the appearance of a bribe. Money must always be returned with thanks. A clatter of swords and tramp of feet announce the arrival of a troop of Indian soldiers. Each man salutes and presents his sword hilt. The correct procedure is to touch this with your baud, murmuring “Salaam” to each man in turn. A few polite remarks are exchanged, generally in execrable Hindustani. by the memsahib.

These ceremonies leave little time to prepare for Church parade. Officers attend this in full uniform. Since the Mutiny all troops carry arms. The decorated church, the band, the uniforms and accoutrements leave a picture not to be erased.

Service over, conveyances are disentangled from the riot of motors, buggies, or the hired tonga, and friends are visited. Compliments of the season are exchanged, healths drunk, and the Christinas cake sampled. Some of the messes may be “At Home,” and there will be a big crowd.

The Culminating Celebrations.

Picnics and lunch parties will occupy the afternoon. The culminating celebrations of the day will probably take the form of a fancy-dress ball, Christmas games, and large dinner parties. There will be the time-honoured toasts of “The King” and “To Absent Friends,” and the usual wish that Christmas could have been spent with the “old folks at home.”