IN AN INDIAN COMPOUND

Taranaki Daily News, 24 July 1930, Page 17

IN AN INDIAN COMPOUND

A DREAM. OF. A CARDEN WORLD OF TINY MUD HOUSES. • , t -i - - — SORDI D AN D PICT I' 11 ICSQ. I' K.' ; The ground in front of an Indian bungalow resembles an English, garden or, hl certain months, an English gardener’s. dream of a garden where everythino' grows in mad profusion roses, swech-peas, stocks and larkspurs, cos-, mos and wall-llowers, poinsettias, chrysanthemums and bougainvillea, all m a .hurly-burly of succession. There are trees too, although these are mot Eng-; lish; banyan trees--with their twisted, rheumatic-looking trunks, the blue gums with their lovely fragrant plum-colour-ed leaves, and the bananas which burst in a single night into exotic blooms. But behind the' bungalow you. leave all memories of home and step, into a new world, a world of tiny mud houses with a courtyard in front, the dwell-ing-place of all the many servants -who live in an Indian• compound. Some of them are indescribably sordid, and some are vprv picturesque ■ (comments a Manchester Guardian writer). The chaukidar' is a tall, shaggy la•than who looks like a, figure from ancient Babylon. His wife we have never seen; his'children are in a State which • can only bo 'mildly hinted at -by the. word “dirty ' little- girl covered with tinkling 'bangles; find a <son Who chases, the turkeys and geese. The ichaukidar is the gentleman who site outside your house all night, ostensibly to : guard ' you. Early '. training has enabled him. to coiigh and. spit throughout the night;;';in' .'tfie profoupdest . Steep. The barking bf' ’'dpg.s ' and'' jackals at his car or a ’ well-placed boot fail to awaken' any ‘self.-respecting member of his profession. - ■- “GOD BLESS EVERY- -ONE.” The. bearer is a bachelor.,.. and .an Anglophile, or.at least diplomatic. His house is gay with coloured rugs. A. o-ramoplione is -in evidence, and a rabbit hutch with several inmates.; A large colour print of Queen Victoria adorns the walls, side Uy side with a gruesome snap of his master’s family. Lnderneath on the white wall is written: “God. bless the Sahib, God blese the Memsahib, God bless his fat sons. God bless the Queen, God bless everyone, God help me, sigited M.D.” In a jar on an old soap-box arc- crowded—probably without water—all the flowers the memsahib L-s-s thrown away in the last few daps. Here it is that Mohammed Dm writes those notes that crop up so mysteriously —under the soap, in work-box or handkerchief drawer, or tucked away in a pocket —“For the Mcmsaliib, not to be opened by Sahib. Respected Sir or Madam, kindly asking Sahib for advance of ten rupees, money gone for new coat, wanting more for food and pietu-tes, signed;-M.D.” _ } 'ingke-.our tour the ayahs, qudr.tbr is hiost forbidding, and we are liot ' encouraged to look in. This time we are kind, but next week we really must look into the matter of all the relatives she is boarding. The quarters are only large enough for two or three people, but old fathers and mothers, grandmothers, a'dnts and cousins have a way of slipping in and living there in a- condition of airlessness in which their old-age seems to thrive. . AN EYE ON Tim WASHING, .. Yesterday the’ niali and his family caused a great sensation. The niali is ■the gardener. The night was cold, so they collected charcoal, greenwood, and leaves and built a mighty fire and shut the door. In the morning,-amid intense excitement, their door was forced open and the family was found overcome by the fumes. Some of them aie lying in the hospital in a critical condition. This happens at least once a year, but ■no lesson is ever-learnt.-In a corner on this hard clay ground arc spreading the family towels and dusters to dry. 'The dhobi lives in the compound, and at any hour of the day clothes are sent to him to be pressed op washed. His children sit and thiow stones at dogs who want to walk over the drying lothes or give the alarm if a hand attempts to pluck a shirt from the- .line as an innocent-looking man <roes by. This dhobi is a new one, as the last had to go. He succumbed ito the charms of the, ayah, but she. repulsed him. Whereupon his love turned to hate, and he determined to scare her aivay. So every night weird howls were heard outside her quarter, her clothes were stolen, and great stones flung Upon her roof until her nerves were at break-ing-point., However, his schemes -were discovered, she was assured that no demons Were after her, and the dhobi went. Every day the sweeper comes to the door of the bungalow with his can, into which go all the remains from the table. These he takes away and makes into a rich stew.

At present the drive through the compound is being relaid, and chaos is abroad. Buffalo and bullock carts stroll in and deposit great heaps of half-bricks and then forget to go away, as the drivers; and the-.- .beasts fall asleep. Ihe place is full of coolies who groan aloud as they work, in order to let authority know how hard they are working. It takes two men to wield one small light spade —one pushes it in with a groan, and the other, groaning even louder, pulls it out by means of a rope. Their wives work too. Their babies hang from trees in shawls. They shout mid fight and suddenly fall asleep, while we anxiously watch the slow progress, wondering if our nerves will stand the strain much longer. Amongst it all stray two goats which <rive milk to the cook’s children, an Airedale and seven puppies, a eat, a mongoose, a donkey, a small deer, and two green parrots. I hen, to crown all, Imre comes a conjuror with his dancing rat and performing snakes. The children clamour to be allowed to watch them, the dogs make a bolt for the rat, and the mongoose is so fleet bf foot that the poor snakes are only just whipped into their bag in time.