DIFFERENT WAYS OF LOOKING AT THINGS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2399, 22 February 1900, Page 59

DIFFERENT WAYS OF LOOKING AT THINGS.

Stay-at-home people in England ore rather apt to get into the way of looking at things from one particular standpoint ; and it is only when avc go abroad that we find others — and especiallyy those of n different religion to ourselves — avlio may be most, excellent characters and good citizens in eA'ery Avay, taking exactly the opposite vieAv to ourselves. For instance, it is considered a laudable ambition with cis for a father to Avi-sh that his son should rise in the Avorld and reach a higher social position. But a good Hindu, OAving to the caste system, never dreams of making his son in any way different from himself,- and if a groom or a farrier, foi. instance, had 20 sons they avoulcl all be brought up to the father's trade. In the same way, they neA'er dispute the superiority of a man of a higher caste than themselves ; and, conversely, a high-caste man never considers it necessary to disguise his contempt for a man of a loavci' caste. I remember that once when I Avas having my lesson in Hindustani from my highcasle munslii, Aviioro I employed on first ar-

riving in India, he dilated viilh great, bitU'lnp-* on the arrogance nl LuropCi-ns. Picsuilly. v. i&hiiig to give soi.ie ruutiv to my iu\\ -ui>to M»eepnr anout my dogs. 1 asked the lrnm'-lu to mteiprel for mo, iMirl, ;m,ong othev thing--, to lrmd the sweeper two 111pcc-. and to give my diieetioii.% as to certain piuvlw-es. Instead of placing the money in the man's hand, the nvun-hi threw it on the ground, dud the sweepei quiUcontentedly gathered up the coins, sjlul'd r<?sv» o cth.ilry, and withdiew. 1 asked the mup-hi how it was th<u he. who resenturi the airogance of Europeans so much, was so insulting in his behaviour to the poor sweeper : and ho explained that the latter quite understood their respective positions, and did not expect a high-caste man to mn any risk of tofvJinig him. well knowing the penalty of fine and troublesome pmiiicauon which" woii la be theruVn entailed.

On the railways alone, where no provision is made for different castes, does die Bivhmm run thu n-k of encountering such contamination ratht-r than pay the cxtia, chaige for a first-class ticket, with which lie would probably have little difficulty in geLting a compartment to hinuelf. The old story will bear repeating of how a great observer., on ob&eiving the following incident, prophesied the breakdown of the caste system by the railways when first opened in India : A. Brahmin v. as standing at the door of n carriage filled with low-caste men, gesticulating and trying to persuade them to leave the compartment, %\hen along came the European guard, anxious to get his train off, and inquired into the cause of the dispute. Cutting short the Brahmin's explanation with "Hang your caste!" or something like it, he pushed him into the carriage, bruiged the door, and started his train.

In these days, of religions controversy, conscientious, objections to vaccination, and reluctance to kiting the book, it is refreshing to recall the broad-minded views of John Chinaman on the last-named subject us expressed in the court at Singapore. In that colony natives of Southern India generally take an oath by killing a fowl, Chinamen by breaking a saucer, Englishmen on a Testament a* at home. Our friend John, however, on being a .-ked how he would be sworn, replied : '' Kill im cock, break im saucer, smell im book — all the name !" With us it is considered the height of bad breeding to hint in any way that you are tired of the society of a caller, and wish to cut short his visit ; but in India when a native calls upon a European he expects co be told when he may go ; in fact, he waits till he is told '• Ruk.-ul hai "—that is, " You have my permission to withdraw." Once I had a call from a native doctor, a highlyeducated aiid superior man; but I was not aware of the etiquette on the subjws. and the poor man sat on for two hours, looking most uncomfortable, waile I wanted to go to attend to various matters ; and it was only when my visitor saw the preparation* for" my dinner nearly completed that he managed to go away. An officer or>ce called upon a petty rajah, aUio, assuming a rank above that of his visitor, tried to dismiss him with a " ruks-ut," when the officer naturally became very angry, and, after giving free utterance to his sentiments, declared his intention of staying a* long as he cho-e. We are rather proud of 'the beauty of our wives, and like our friends to admire them ; but in India a rich man wher travelling, and obliged to let his wives out of the zenana, to prevent any other man seem«• them has them carried about, even in the hottest weather, in completely clos'.x 1 sedan chairs, and with their entire heads and bodies covered with a thick cotton garment, onh- peep holes for the eyes being feft. If a low-ciste Hindu finds his wife given to flirting, he cuts off her nuse to mv der her less attractive; while, until lately, as soon as a Japanese woman got married she had her pretty white teeth blackened with some corrosive preparation of iion. which, however lively she might be, diet" away with the likelihood of any man wishing to make love to her. I was once talking to a native in India, who informed me he had two wives. I lemarked that they would probably be jealous of eich other ; and, on his assenting, 1 asked him how he managed when they quarrelled. He replied without hesitation" or embarrassment that he then gave them a real good thrashing. I could not help admiring the virtue of such a method of treatment; foi, as "a fellow-feeling makes us wondrous kind," the ladies no doubt, •when they became companions i misfortune, would feel drawn together and inclined to forget their little differences. With us a large family is generally considered somewhat of a misfortune, and a man is anxioiis to save money to leave to l.is childrei : but in the East it is still true that "blessed is the man that hath his quiver hill of them." A man in work will always support not only his parent? but all liis poor relations. In the vast continent of India, with its teeming population, mostly miserably poor, so that it is considered afllucneo to be able to afford to eat twic a day — where there are millions t\lio never know what it is not to be hungry — there is no such thing as poor-lav,- relief. One's poorest servants, who live and keep a family on from six to ten shillings a month, always have some poor relations hanging on to them, who He doing nothing ail day, but are always welcome to a share of the scanty dinuer when it is ready. Once, talking to v Japanese, I asked him how he would do when lie got too old to work ; when he pointed with pride to his happy children miming about, and intimated that he had sons whose privilege it would be to keep him in Im old age. Of course it is well known that in China this feeling is carried still further, so that the son worships his father. Thus it is of the greatest importance for a Chinnmnn to have a son to cany out the proper riles for him on his deitth ; he only values his wife if she gives him a won, while daughters are very often cast out to perish at birth, or sold to be brought tip to a life of degradation and shame.

An incident once happfi.ed showing a' curious way of looking al tilings on "the

pi'i't of S2ver.il p'_-cpc. A c'octoi was summoned huiiit'dly to visit the child of a native oiikev in Ceylon. Boh-rc h? could jcach tht "linos" h.- wa j met by someone who vid J.o need no, go. as tha child wa« doacl. Somo days afterv.-wds he received .111 anoMMiious letter to c-.i_>c -.i_> that the child bi'il been munlereri, and was buried imdcj tho hut ol it * paivm,-, while a mock fw.eral had been helei, and j doll buried in the v-mal bin L>l -ground. The doctor took ihe letter to the magistrate. « ho pooh-poohed the tiling, but told hi 5 - police-serge-an; 10 make some inquiries. This Wttur ofikvil found that a doll had actually been buried ; and, on approaching the hut <>i tlu j patents of the child, siupi'jied a oU* woman mailing awt-y with something which, on examination, proved to be the decomposed bocl.of the infant, which she had evidently fust cxli acted from a hole in the floor of the hut. When the matter was thoroughly sifted it was proved that there was a company of strolling jugglers in the plnce at the time, and that these- pecyple were always anxious to get hold of the skull of a first-born son for their ti icks and incanta- . lions. Now, this child was "a Hi -it-born son ; and when it was likely to die, the parents heard that the jugglers pioposed to exhume the body and steal the slcuii. Instead of invoking the protection of the law, the poor father and mothei of the child tried to preA'ent the mutilation of its body by the subterfuge above described, while the jugglers, in revenge, wrote the anonymous letter in the hope of getting the infant's parents into trouble. The distrust 111 the power of the law to protect them is very general among the inhabitants of India, and is clue partly to the race having lived for man}' generations under alien and oppressive conquerors, and partly to the cormption and extortions of the subordinate native officers of the law at che present time. Another incident occurs to me as illustrating this point. A friend, an officer in a native regiment, was obliged to march with his sepoys through standing crops during Home manoeuvre':. He observed the oAvner of the field Avringing his hands, and evidently in great distress at the damage clone to his corn ; he kindly spoke to the man, and told him he could get full compensation for any damage by applying to the proper official. " xih, sahib," said the peasant. '" your men may have done five rupees' worth of damage; but it Avill cost me ten rupees in bribes beiore I can come before the Commissioner Sahib to state my complaint." These few anecdotes may serve to show that we must not always think our Avay of acting and looking at things is necessari'y the only one or the best ; and that, before condemning others as imclviliced or ignorant, we must remember that their cir- j cumstances and education are very different I to oui:;. — Chambers's Journal.