The lived experience of a people is often a memory. Sometimes a written word is the only gateway to that memory. Vast amounts of literature present the English as unwanted rulers who exploited India, who looted the country only to return back to their country. But there are many who loved India and kept a lifelong relationship with her. Do we know what India meant to them?
In the 1970’s, Khushwant Singh, one of India’s most prolific writers, the then editor of the popular magazine, The Illustrated Weekly of India, invited Englishmen and women who lived in India after Independence to write on ‘What India Meant to me’. The result, ‘Sahibs Who Loved India’ is a spellbinding collection of intimate personal accounts of people from various walks of life – from Louis Mountbatten and members of the Indian Civil Service to journalists, architects, teachers and engineers.
Sahibs Who Loved India offers rare insights into a distant past – a time when English people arrived in ships, men and women were known as Sahibs and Memsahibs who went on Shikar (hunts), had whites only clubs, danced in tails and white ties and spoke of the empire. It points to a time of Koi Hai accents, where native Indians and Englishmen co-existed in different social worlds and of a time when India was emerging from the shackles of colonialism and the empire.
However, at that point in time, there were men and women, (Sahibs and Memsahibs) of British and European descent, who loved India, her seasons, colours and flavours. They embraced her culture, soaked in her spirit, learnt from her people and adopted her as home. Through their honest, intimate and personal accounts, they pay an ode to India – telling delightfully – how she educated, enlightened and enchanted them through her simplicity and splendour.
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