Evening star., 1898-10-08
DOMESTIC LIFE IN INDIA
It Requires Number of Servants to Run a
Home.
As General Rule They Are Mem
Their Various Dutfes-Serv-
ing the Meals.
From Vick's Magazine.


The head servant of every house is called
the bearer. Upon him devolves the respon-
sibility of the general management of all
the servants except the cook His particu-
lar duties are to dust and arrange the fur
niture and to attend the door when callers
arrive. When a lady drives up in her car
riage the bearer goes to the carriage door
with card tray to receive her card. He
conveys 1t to his mistress, who sends back
the word "Salaam' If she is prepared to
receive callers. If she does not care to re-
ce1ve, the servant returns to the carriage
ana says 'DwarZi bund,'' which is, the door
is shut.
The next servant in Importance is the
COOK This important individual is, be-
cause OF caste reasons, a Mohammedan;
Hlndoos will not handle cook meat; Mo-
hammedans will, so Mohammedans do the
cooking in European families This ser
want not only cooks, but buys all the
provisions. 1t is necessary to hold
this important parsonage to strict ac-
count, for, unless he is so held he
Will run up bills that astonishing Here
Is the order of meals for one day: At ris-
lng-o O'Clock in the morning-the cook
serves in your room what Is known as
"chhota hazree," or the small breakfast:
1t comprises tea, two pieces of toast with
fruit and an egg If desired. AT about 10
O'Clock breakfast is served; this consists
or milk dish, then meat course, fol-
lowed by an Indian dish, prepared in the
lnim1table Hindoostanee fashion. In some
Of the favored sections of India. where it
Is cool for few weeks of the year. coffee
Is served during the cool season AT 3 in
the afternoon luncheon is served; this meal
consists of fruit, bread, butter and jam
with tea and cold meat. Dinner is served
at . o clock in the evening. and is a formal
occasion. The courses consist of soup, a
side dish two or more meat courses pulao,
another India dish; cake and pudding fol-
lowed by nuts, fruits, etc, after which the
6rD to ttac CIT 81,
gentlemen indulge in conversation coffee
and cigars. To close the day tea is served
in the sitting room before retiring.
To assist in serving the meals during the
day the cook has the assistance of two men,
or even more, who are called khidmadgars
or walters. They wear flowing garments of
spotless whiteness. Their heads are COW
cred with yards of filIny white goods wound
time and time again about like a turban.
They never speak above a whisper while
on duty, and with bare feet they glide
noiselessly and quickly in and out, serving
the different courses. Besides the cook and
these helpers who wait on the table, there
is another quiet and placid individual who
sits on his feet in the kitchen and washes
the dishes He is known as the michal-
chee, or dishwasher.
All the household servants have not yet
been enumerated. There is the indispeu-
sable bhiStee, or water carrier. He supplies
all the bath rooms with water, provides
the kitchen with water and waters the
shrubs and flowers. AS he has to pull all
the water from a deep we'll by hand his
duties are by no means light. Then there
is the mither, or sweeper, who sweeps the
rooms and attends to the conservancy of
bath rooms. The mally, or gardener, looks
after the culture of flowers in the garden
and cares for the lawn. At every meal he
has the table decorated handsomely with
flowers. Besides these servants the watch
man has duties that are peculiar to house
keeping in India, and then there are the
syce and his assistants, whose duties re-
quire them to give constant attention to
their masters horses and carriages. The
ayah, or lady's maid, is the only woman
servant connected with European mousse
hold in India