The predicament of the English living in colonies

The English experience of colonialism was wonderful. Actually, nothing comparable may be traced out anywhere in history. Not even the Roman Empire* can compare with it in many superior aspects. However, I cannot go into a discussion on that, for I may then digress from the subject matter on hand.

Here, I may think of the actual everyday emotions that may have disturbed the English who were living in colonies like this South Asian subcontinent. Many of them were coming from the middle class, both lower and upper. And from the Merchant Class. All these classes, when superimposed on the social realities of the subcontinent would occupy a low level of position in the local society.

Here, we may bear in mind that the social superior classes of natives here, never even contemplated on bringing up the social levels of the lower level Indians. In attempting to change the social set-up to suit themselves, the British deliberately or even unwittingly set the trend for changes in the society. Yet, the British could never move as equals with the common man, who were not only kept low in the local social circles, but also, they, the common persons, themselves believed thoroughly in their own lowliness. Any attempt to move at their circle would have ruined the social levels of the British, that they must have build up an obsessive mania for keeping out the virus of social fragmentation from their own midst.

There would be persons, who are teachers, nurses, clerks, constables, ordinary soldiers etc. At the same time, there would be local natives also of comparable professions living in close quarters to the British areas of interaction, in the colonial social scene here. How would they find an equation with these beings, who though possibly of comparable technical intelligence, would be existing on the lower parameters of the capacity? The local society is actually be divided into impenetrable layers.

These lower class local natives would find it hard to communicate with natives who occupy relatively higher social or official positions. At the same time, the equivalent English person would face no such inhibition or fetter. Moreover, these same lower class natives would also be lording over large groups of other natives who, they would keep apart from. It would be a bewildering situation to interact and maintain any level of relation with all the innumerable groups of people from the English level of free interaction. The best way would be to maintain a distance, which would naturally lend enchantment. They would have to remain in close contact with the higher society, whose social behaviour may actually be abhorrent to the English understanding of social communication. However, moving around with them would safeguard the English side’s prestige level. This would, in turn, improve their safety and value in the feudal society.

Too much acquaintance with the feebler sections of the society could create a fear that the negativity of these persons would infect them. The best way out of this quandary would be to maintain a safe and discrete distance from the bewildering maze of social mess. This is basically a social code in practise among all natives of the subcontinent, even now. Be it Pakistan, Bangladesh or India.

On the social scene, at the family level also, there would be a great level of disquieting situations. More so, for the womenfolk. For, there would be many English families living in splendid isolation from each other. The mental isolation that they have to maintain to keep a discrete distance from the embracing hug of the local society would have been claustrophobic. The women would have been in a dilemma. If they keep apart, they suffer isolation and boredom. At the same time, if they go into the society, the creeping impact of the lower level of ordinary native women in the local social scene would affect them, also.

Moreover, the communication with the servants - they would have to be maintained at a much lower level than the servants back home. The tendency of the lower class women to use the lower indicants if one becomes too free with them, without donning the garb of domination, would also be very disturbing.

Beyond all this, in most feudal languages, children are given the same indicants as native servants. This would also effectively cause a misgiving in allowing the local children to mix with the English children.

Here it must be mentioned that the impact of the feudal lower indicant expressions would be felt more by persons who have been used to the dignified level of communication, in the English language. A native subcontinent child may not feel any shock and dismay, if he is addressed in the lowest indicant level by an elder. For, he is always kept at that level. However if an English child were to be addressed by a native adult by the same lowest level indicant, then it would have an effect of shock and fright.

There is another aspect to dealing with persons who exist in the feudal language. Some of them learn very good English. For learning English is very easy, as it is a very intelligent software.

(An allegory may be taken about computers. As computers become more and more intelligent, they become more and more easy to use, as against the cumbersomeness, and tediousness of learning simpler forms of computers. I have been told that the Chinese language has an immensity of characters. Indian languages have many basic alphabets, and an immensity of symbols that change the sound of each alphabet. Moreover, each word changes in shape as it changes its tense, and other aspects. At the same time, English words do not change in shape much, other than an apostrophe,’s, -, etc. I have heard Malayalee telling me that Malayalam is very difficult to study, as a matter for gloating. I found it actually, a matter for derision).

These people, though they speak good English, their mental software, and also their social concepts would be in the vernacular. They would be able to interact with the Englishmen and women. Naturally, they would not feel the reverence that the other local people may feel. The English also would find it difficult to keep them out of their mental domains, for they would be able to communicate with them at a more equal level. Yet, many of them, would carry the easier level of interaction, they had with the English folk, to the vernacular society. This action would give access to the feudal mental processes to scrutinize and evaluate the individual persons of English mental levels in a very mean and coarse language software.

Here one must accept with a trace of adulation the fact that the English in spite of all this did make a lot of positive changes to the social society. This in turn, led to the unshackling of many slaves, and led them to the path of liberation from an aeon of social captivity.

Many Englishmen and women, who lived in British-India, and other colonial possessions, did love these lands, and its people. However, this affinity for an alien nation and its people spring from a running of the local feudal software. For, most of the English existed on the higher planes of the feudal societies. So they invariably saw to it that their social levels remained high. Naturally, in a feudal language society, being on the top has a definite cosy feel. Sometimes, it does also give a real panic of insecurity, when one is unsure of one’s social level’s stability. However, it may safely be construed that the common Englishman in British-India did exist on a safe base. Those of whom, who did not get this feel of social level stability must have hated this subcontinent and other Afro-Asian colonial areas, like plague.

At the same time, it may be borne in mind that anybody who exists on the lower pane of society would not find the going good, unless, they also build up adequate number of levels to keep under their thumb.