Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-18
SERVANTS IN INDIA
HOUSEHOLD WHERE IT TOOK
81 TO DO THE WORK.
Intricacies Of Caste Among Domestics
in the Land Of the
Rajahs.
From the New York Tribune.

From the New York Tribune
lntricacies of caste among the servants
prevent housekeeping from degenerating
into a tame and monotonous occupation in
India, according to Mrs. O. NJ Eakins
whose husband was acting vice consul gem
eral at Calcutta under the last adminstra-
ton. Mrs. Eakins. who is now in New
York, lived in Calcutta for two years re-
Gently.
1t required twenty-seven servants to per-
form the Homework for my husband and
myself" said she, In discussing the SUBJ
ject. THE man who does the marketing
will on no account carry the purchases
home. There must be a coolie for that
The official cook of the establishment never
cooks. He sits and directs some other per-
sons. who performs the actual labor The
man who serves the food at the table will
never bring it from the kitchen, which Is
in separate building in the compound.
There must be a special servant for that.
The man who did the chamber work and
took care of the bath room was specially
unclean to all the rest of the servants.
They would neither touch him any
article which he touched. If a table were
to be moved, not one of the other twenty
six would lift one end of 1t if he had hold
of the other end.
ut Is necessary to have certain number
of Mussulman servants to handle the food.
No Hindoo servant will touch your food or
wash your dishes This is particularly the
case with meat dishes Some vegetables
they do not mind. But the same trouble
arises pork with the Mussulman ser
wants. One day my cook went on strike,
and a Mussulman helper offered to get the
luncheon. l told him to fry some bacon,
but he murmured alphabetically that he
couldn't touch pig. So l went and sliced
the bacon for him. and after that he slid
1t into the frying pan and when it was
cooked slid it upon the plate, and so served
1t without touching 1t.
Influence of Religion.
They are the most impertubable people
In the world. You may throw one down.
stairs or pat him on the back: he accepts
both with exactly the same expression Of
countenance. The Indians religion is at
the bottom of all his acts, all his feelings.
He eats, sleeps, moves and has his being
according TO religious formulate. And his
doctrine of reincarnation forms his whole
philosophy of life. The fact that you are
the master now is due to the fact that you
have been the servant in some previous re-
incarnation. He is the servant now, and
the only chance for him to be reborn In the
masters position is to learn all the lessons
of his present incarnation. He takes every
thing philosophically. 1t is all part of
the days work
mo white woman in Calcutta will have
a Christian Indian for a servant. l know
the wife of the canon of the Church of
England very well. The canon has charge
of all the Church of England missions in
India. But she VIII not have a Christian
servant in her house. They have lost all
the ethics of their own religion and not
taken any of those of the new one. 1t
may be the beginning of better things, but
the present results are chaotic.
Cosmopolitan Calcutta.
Calcutta is the most cosmopolitan city In
India. Conditions of life there are very
similar to those in any European city. 1t
is situated in the least attractive part of
India. where the climatic conditions are
bad. The natives of that region are looked
down upon by other native races of India.
Dog of a Vengalf is a common expression
throughout the country. Babu' really
means Mr., but ii is a term used in Cal
cutta to signify an English-speaking In
dian. 1t Is perfectly common sight to
see babu walking the streets of Calcutta
wearing patent leather shoes, no stockings,
the native drapery wound about his upper
limbs, and his costume completed by the
shirt of the white man, worn quite un-
trammeled. The babu prizes his patent
leather shoes above all other article of at
tire, and when 1t rains will take them off
and carry them. 1t is a common thing
with white housewives, looking over their
returned laundry to exclaim, well, this
shirt has been rented out to a babu! The
laundryman turns many an honest penny
renting the shirts of his customers out to
babus who wish to make a smart toilet.
One curious result of the mission schools
In India is the collection of dolls in glass
cases which you will see in Indian houses
Sometimes there will be generations of
dolls, from the grandmother down to the
present young daughter of the house. An
Indian girl never plays with a doll. Some
times she will play with little brass toys
but she plays very little anyway. An In
dian girl is the most serious little beggar
in the world. 1t Is a curse TO be born a
woman at all, and the women simply ac-
cept that curse as part of their lives
with the same philosophy as the whole of
life is accepted. The sole test of whether a
woman Is a good woman or not is her pos
session of sons. If she has sons she is a
good wife. If she has only daughters she
is not.
1T all comes back to an economic basis
In the final analysis. Daughters take
dowry to marry them off. Therefore they
are expensive and undesirable Boys bring
dowry into the family with their wives
The Indian woman has only two things to
live for-to have sons and to become a
mother-in-law. AS a mother-in-Iaw she Is
queen of the female portion of the house
hold, and the daughter-in-law may expect
no release from slavery until she In her
turn becomes mother-in-law. To go back
TO the dolls, prospective bridegroom will
often ask how many dolls the girl has The
dolls are given for industry, obedience and
good temper, and therefore the number of
them is of interest to the future husband.