The Port City may today be regarded as the most cosmopolitan city of Andhra Pradesh with people of various cultures and religions living together in harmony and while this is generally attributed to the mushrooming of several public sector units, industries and government establishments in the post independence era, the seeds of cosmopolitanism were sowed much before that.
For, even a century prior to independence and long before the port, steel plant or the Indian Navy dropped anchor in Vizag, a pluralistic culture thrived in the city.
It all started with the British landing on Vizag’s shores in the 19th and early 20th century, some of whom married local women when their regiments were posted in Vizag during the First and Second World War.
While most members of the city’s Anglo Indian community are descendants of British soldiers and administrative officials, some of them are also of Australian and Canadian descent. “Anglo-Indians were found from the 19th and early 20th century in Vizag and were concentrated in areas like Soldierpeta, Gnapuram, Suryabagh and Old Town. The first and second generation Anglo Indians were mostly with the armed forces or served as administrative officials. The subsequent generations mostly worked in the ports or railways and followed a fully European way of life,” said city-based historian Edward Paul.
Being literate, the community had one of the most progressive ideologies, denouncing the dowry system, forced arranged marriages and gender bias, and their women were also quite liberated. Culturally active, they influenced almost all aspects of the city, be it education, sports, music and dance, or even the social scene.
Mostly Roman Catholics and a few Protestants too by religion, the community would be found every Saturday and Sunday in churches, which served not just as a platform for religious congregation but also as a forum for socialising and cultural dos. Dressed in fashionable clothes and high-heels, they would dance, play music and exchange pleasantries in the churches. The Port Gymkhana Club, Railway Institute and Town Hall were other places for socializing and partying.
Almost all Anglo-Indians had penchant for music and thanks to them Vizag had a lively social scene, good live bands and guitarists, while most houses had pianos. Thanks to their penchant for socializing they were also instrumental in setting up many clubs. They also made good sportsperson and were into hockey, football,bicycling and athletics.
The fun-food-drink loving Anglo Indians were an industrious lot too and did not look down upon any job. An old-timer of Vizag, Sohan Hatangadi, who has seen the community at close quarters, reminisced, “My neighbour Michael Buckley would clean the streets in front of his house every day using his own brooms. He would lay the pavement in his area with tar and stone.”
One of their major contribution was towards education and saw them set up many English medium schools. “As far as education is concerned, the oldest school in Vizag, St Aloysius Anglo Indian School catered to the boys, while the girls studied in St Joseph’s Convent. Even though not too academically inclined, they preferred to be financially independent soon after turning 18 years old. Women were mostly into teaching and nursing, while men, with their knowledge of English, would get clerical jobs or work in the railways, customs or port workshops,” said Owen Perera, an old timer belonging to the community.
During Christmas, the homes and narrow by-lanes of the Old Town area (Vizag in those days was limited to the Old Town area) would come alive with decorated stars,Christmas trees and lamps. Aromas of freshly-baked cakes and melodious yuletide music would waft from every Anglo-Indian household. Easter was another important festival.
With a spurt in migration to Australia, UK and other countries since the late 1960s and 70s, when there were around 200-plus families in Vizag, today barely 15-20 families (the elderly ones) are left in Vizag with life more about nostalgia for the good-old days while for some its about waiting for the younger generation’s homecoming from abroad during Christmas.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Visakhapatnam / by Sulogna Mehta, TNN / June 25th, 2015
