Survival, distinct

With the Union government scrapping political reservation for Anglo-Indians in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, the small community is at a crossroads, unsure about what the future holds

- SRAVANI SARKAR

The quaint, old, colonial style house, surrounded by trees and a small garden, offers a welcome calm from the city’s chaos. And, its residents exude warmth, despite us committing the cardinal sin of dropping in unannounced on a lazy Sunday noon.

It is home to elderly sisters Shirley Davis and Mabel Scolt, and is among the very few traditional Anglo-Indian homes that have stood the test of time in Whitefield, once a designated settlement for the Anglo-Indian community in Bengaluru. In 1882, King Chamraja Wodeyar IX, the Maharaja of Mysore, had granted 3,900 acres to the Eurasian and Anglo-Indian Association for the establishment of an agricultural settlement. Named after David Emmanuel Starkenburgh White, the association’s president, Whitefield was a quaint little town until the early 1990s when it was absorbed almost completely into Greater Bangalore.

Today, there are hardly any traditional Anglo-Indian houses in Whitefield; the skyline is dotted with tall buildings housing IT firms. Families have either migrated or simply ceased to exist with the last of their members dying.

Outside the sisters’ home, Davis’s grandson, Sean Lawrence, 40, is busy painting the roof tiles that had come off over the years. Working on the tiles is part of his plan to conserve the ancient family home.

Inside, Davis, 86, has just finished making rose cookies, a traditional Anglo-Indian sweet, and is prepping for lunch with Scolt, 76. Davis’s daughter, Judy Lawrence, is busy with chores in her part of the residence within the compound. The interesting cohabitation of the Davises, Lawrences and Scolts is a perfect example of an Anglo-Indian family in modern India, trying to balance the past with the present and being watchful of the future.