Child of the Raj

Rohan

Description

Ronen Ghose was born in Patna Bihar, India during the turbulent closing years of British India. As a child, he witnessed the unpleasant consequences of Partition in East Bengal, now Bangladesh then East Pakistan, as well the wonderful friendship and assistance given to his family by Muslims in East Pakistan. Child of the Raj covers a unique and fascinating period of British and Indian history, as seen through the eyes of someone who lived through it. From the twilight years of the British Raj and the blossoming freedom under Prime Minster Nehrv, the first Prime Minister of India, Child of the Raj is the ideal read for anyone interested in this exciting and often turbulent time in history. From Bengal, Calcutta in 1929 all the way up to present day India, this is not a book to miss.

Sujets

• Lettres et linguistique
• India

Informations

• Publié par: Troubador Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 20 septembre 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781803130248
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Child of the Raj– a journey!
Rohan


Copyright © 2021 Rohan

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

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ISBN 9781803130248

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I dedicate this book to – my wife Rita, my son Ronobir, my grandaughter Cameren who has edited this book, my twin grandsons Donovan and Cole, and their mother Sarah the pillar of our household. She represents proper English broth – the Birch family of Deanshanger. I also dedicate this book to Baboo and Yakub, Bill Pooler, and Paul Reynolds and lastly, Moira and Peter Cooper for having also assisted in the preparation of this book. I bow my head in total humility to all my staff members involved in my life who brought me up from a little child till I left home and subsequently in later life. Such loyalty and devotion to duty was amazing. I pray for their souls daily in deep respect.


Contents
About the Author
Foreword
Chapter 1: Bengal- Calcutta 1929
Chapter 2 : The Bhawal Sanyasi Case.
Chapter 3:Bihar – the Heart of in India
Chapter 4: East Bengal – East Pakistan
Chapter 5: India-Calcutta/Bokaro
Chapter 6: University Life With the Jesuits
Chapter 7: University Life at the elite St. Xavier’s Jesuit College
Chapter 8: Calcutta
Chapter 9: Bill Pooler
Chapter 10: My marriage to Rita
Chapter 11 – Politics:
Chapter 12: My Twilight Years


About the Author



The author, a direct descendent of the Victorian novelist William Harrison Ainsworth was born in Eastern India and enjoyed a privileged upbringing. His schooling in Darjeeling Himalayas allowed him to go to university in Calcutta and then to embark on a tea planting career in Assam, India, and finally to achieve a reputation as an Airline Executive with Pan Am and subsequently as a travel executive in Eastern India. He now leads a retired life of leisure, in a green and pleasant land, Northamptonshire, England.


Foreword
It was some twenty years ago one afternoon, through an incident that happened to me, as a result of which you are dear reader, now reading this book. I went into Sainsbury’s supermarket in Milton Keynes to get myself a sandwich. While nosing around, a lady next to me was doing likewise. She then casually struck up a conversation and in the process asked “Your accent is rather intriguing, Where is it from?” My reply - “India, Calcutta – ex airline executive, Assam – ex tea planter, Darjeeling, my school days” I went on to say. She then retorted “You must have led a fascinating life?” I replied - “ My life was indeed a fascinating one and I would love to write my life story.” She gave me a long hard stare and said: “Write it, get on to your laptop and it will all flow through your fingers,” she explained. I then asked her “ How do you know?” She replied “I am a novelist.” and before I could ask her name she walked off.


Chapter 1: Bengal- Calcutta 1929
In mid October 1929 - the place, Diamond Harbour, Bengal, – then part of British India,- a young English woman, an Ainsworth, – my mother, a direct descendent of the Victorian novelist William Harrison Ainsworth, strode down the gangplank of the steamship - “The Empress of India”, having completed a solitary lone voyage from her beloved England to marry her future husband, a Bengali, my father. Waiting at the pier was my father, his father an eminent surgeon of Bengal, together with a host of curious friends and relatives to witness this spectacle of an English woman disembarking from a famous ship, to begin an uncertain future into the unknown, and above all; beginning a life in an alien culture in British India and marrying into a Bengali family in Calcutta, the former home of the East India Company.
Thus began the life of my mother in India, a life fraught with trials and tribulations, uncertainties and challenges, which she resolutely overcame having given birth to three sons and tragically losing her second son, whose death left an indelible scar on her, her husband, and us two remaining brothers.
My mother was met by a host of Bengali relatives who had arrived at Calcutta Port- Diamond Harbour in numerous cars, eagerly and inquisitively looking forward to meeting this young English lady from far away England, a member of the ruling class, soon to be the daughter-in-law of Bengal’s most famous surgeon.
When my mother was duly transported to her new Bengali home in Gomes Lane, North Calcutta my father then quietly informed her a few days prior to their wedding, that the job he had with his English employer as an electrical engineer, a famous colonial firm was no more. My father sadly informed my mother that six weeks prior to her arrival by boat to India from England, the Directors of the company came to know that one of their Native England Returned Engineer was due to marry an English girl. The Managing Director then took it upon himself to write to my grandfather – the eminent surgeon, asking him if this was true. My grandfather replied in the affirmative. My father was then summoned to Head Office in Calcutta to explain in person to the Directors whether this was all true, from his far away posting in Central India. The Managing Director and the Board when hearing from my father that he was marrying an English girl from Didsbury, Manchester, and that his future wife had set sail from England, they immediately terminated his services with the proviso that if he cancelled his marriage he would be allowed to keep his job as the Company had a strict policy that Indians could not marry into the English race. My father walked out of their office as a jobless engineer.
Two weeks later my parents were married at a Civil Wedding on the 2 November 1929 at Writer’s Building, Calcutta, the centre of administrative power of British India, followed by a lavish Indian reception for dignitaries of Bengal in the evening. My mother wore a saree the traditional Indian dress, and from that day onwards never again wore European clothes. Mother was bedecked in 22- carat gold jewellery for the reception only to have every bit of it taken away next day by the extended family. Evidently this was just a stunt, a show to the public as to how the young English daughter-in-law of the famous Doctor Surgeon was being showered with jewellery. Needless to say my mother never forgot nor forgave this unpardonable insult and extracted her sweet revenge years later and resolved to free herself from her extended family bondage at the earliest opportunity.
My father was fortunate in securing an attractive posting some four weeks after his marriage, to Dhaka, the Capital of the then East Bengal, a part of British India as the under study to the Chief Engineer of Dhaka Electric Supply Co. He was now entitled to a beautiful three bedroomed bungalow with a large garden and a tennis court with a complement of staff consisting of cook, butler, gardener and two helpers and security guards. My mother was excited in this new posting as she would now be free of the shackles of living in an extended family and looking forward to living in her new home to run the household independently her way, till her death years later in Calcutta.


Chapter 2 : The Bhawal Sanyasi Case.
My mother found it exciting having to host Saturday afternoon tennis in her new home having thankfully left the confines of her extended family in Calcutta. Traditional English tea and scones were served with cucumber sandwiches. Among my parent’s friends were two famous lawyers of Bengal who were directly involved on behalf of the British Government of the time for and against in The Bhawal Case Bejoy Kumar Chatterjee to serve as counsel for the claimant and Amiya Nath Chaudhuri as counsel for the defendant namely the widow of the Raja. This extended Indian Court Case about a person who claimed to be the Prince of Bhawal a territory the size of Wales was presumed dead a decade earlier having died in Darjeeling and was duly cremated thereafter. However ten years later he reappeared on the streets of Dhaka as a Sanyasi (holy man) which created a stir amongst the locals as this Sanyasi bore an uncanny resemblance to the departed Raja who died in Darjeeling as mentioned earlier. The case was now so famous in India that it was also discussed in the House of Lords.



My mother riding Pillion with father - Rewa, India, 1932

It is an irony that 18 years later Amiya Nath Chaudhuri’s two grandsons would be studying with me at St. Paul’s School, Darjeeling with one as my classmate. His father later became Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army.
It transpired that just before the cremation there was a violent hailstorm which put a stop to proceedings and people ran for shelter. In the intervening period a group of sadhus (holy men) came upon this pyre and noticed the corpse was moving and then came to the Raja’s rescue, took him away, on