traditions, and the spineless capitulation of Indians to the secular spirit which ruled the colony.
In fact, Hindus were split down the middle. On the one side were the Traditionalists, trying to uphold their culture as much as possible but nowhere reaching Baba's strict standards. After all, these were second, third, fourth and even fifth generation Indians, not one of them had ever been to India, hardly any of them spoke Hindi, and compromise had been necessary. Of this clan Baba was the undisputed leader and authority, for he had actually grown up in India, he spoke Hindi as well as Bengali and a smattering of Urdu.
The Modernists were non-practising Hindus, sunk in a mire of debauchery, growing worse from generation to generation. Nowadays Hindu men and women even went to parties and danced; the women wore trousers, or dresses showing their knees; and they chose their own marriage partners. They were all eating meat, even beef. They were converting to Christianity, giving their children English, Christian names. A man's name meant nothing. You could not tell a man's caste from his name, for caste was non-existent. Brahmins no longer wore the sacred thread, and as for the ritual purity called for in this caste, only a few pundits knew the theories that no-one practised. In fact, except for a few carefully-bred Roys, there were no Brahmins left. Hindus were mongrels, a boiled-down stew where no man knew his roots.
Balwant Uncle said this was due to historical circumstances. The first Indians had lived cramped together in the abandoned slave logies on the sugar estates, without regard for caste and clan, forced to compromise on their thousand-year rules and regulations.
But Deodat refused to compromise. He would not take a mongrel wife. His wife had to be of pure blood and orthodox upbringing. Her role was to ground a family pure in tradition, raise children as Brahmins. A devoted Hindu wife, steeped in the spirit of her religion, one to revive the dying faith. Most important, his three eldest sons should return home before they, too, succumbed to the spirit of secularism. A woman is the backbone of the family. The family is the backbone of society. Therefore, the woman was the backbone of society. But she had to be an aware woman. A woman of faith, a woman whose own backbone was held upright by God. When Woman falls, society falls, Deodat never tired of saying. There had to be a woman in the home. A good, strong woman. And he would have to import her from India.
The Bengali branch of the Roy family placed an advertisement for Deodat in the Times of India. But finding a good Brahmin wife for Deodat proved to be near impossible. Fathers stubbornly refused to send their daughters into the Antipodes, quite literally into the Underworld. Deodat considered returning to England to choose a wife: but that was defeating the purpose. He wanted a wife born and bred on India's soil. His Bengali relatives advised him to take a widow. Reluctantly, Deodat saw the necessity for compromise, and permitted the words ‘widow acceptable’ to be included in the ad.
Several months later Ma stepped off a ship at the Georgetown harbour. It was as easy as that.
M A MOVED INTO W ATERLOO S TREET , and three children were born at two-year intervals: Indrani, Ganesh and Sarojini. Deodat could not have been more pleased, because Ma was exactly what he'd wanted, a still, silent, good spirit of the house, devoted to the children, a good cook, and, above all, an ardent devotee of Shiva.
The first thing Ma did when she came to Waterloo Street was install the puja room, and she was quite happy to hang up pictures of Krishna and Rama and Vishnu's consort Lakshmi next to those of Siva, Saraswati, and Ganesh, as well as pictures of Jesus, Mary and Buddha. So Baba was satisfied — almost. There were only two bitter drops in his life. The first was that Natarajeshwar, Nathuram and Narendra all refused to move back into Baba's household. Narendra was only
In fact, Hindus were split down the middle. On the one side were the Traditionalists, trying to uphold their culture as much as possible but nowhere reaching Baba's strict standards. After all, these were second, third, fourth and even fifth generation Indians, not one of them had ever been to India, hardly any of them spoke Hindi, and compromise had been necessary. Of this clan Baba was the undisputed leader and authority, for he had actually grown up in India, he spoke Hindi as well as Bengali and a smattering of Urdu.
The Modernists were non-practising Hindus, sunk in a mire of debauchery, growing worse from generation to generation. Nowadays Hindu men and women even went to parties and danced; the women wore trousers, or dresses showing their knees; and they chose their own marriage partners. They were all eating meat, even beef. They were converting to Christianity, giving their children English, Christian names. A man's name meant nothing. You could not tell a man's caste from his name, for caste was non-existent. Brahmins no longer wore the sacred thread, and as for the ritual purity called for in this caste, only a few pundits knew the theories that no-one practised. In fact, except for a few carefully-bred Roys, there were no Brahmins left. Hindus were mongrels, a boiled-down stew where no man knew his roots.
Balwant Uncle said this was due to historical circumstances. The first Indians had lived cramped together in the abandoned slave logies on the sugar estates, without regard for caste and clan, forced to compromise on their thousand-year rules and regulations.
But Deodat refused to compromise. He would not take a mongrel wife. His wife had to be of pure blood and orthodox upbringing. Her role was to ground a family pure in tradition, raise children as Brahmins. A devoted Hindu wife, steeped in the spirit of her religion, one to revive the dying faith. Most important, his three eldest sons should return home before they, too, succumbed to the spirit of secularism. A woman is the backbone of the family. The family is the backbone of society. Therefore, the woman was the backbone of society. But she had to be an aware woman. A woman of faith, a woman whose own backbone was held upright by God. When Woman falls, society falls, Deodat never tired of saying. There had to be a woman in the home. A good, strong woman. And he would have to import her from India.
The Bengali branch of the Roy family placed an advertisement for Deodat in the Times of India. But finding a good Brahmin wife for Deodat proved to be near impossible. Fathers stubbornly refused to send their daughters into the Antipodes, quite literally into the Underworld. Deodat considered returning to England to choose a wife: but that was defeating the purpose. He wanted a wife born and bred on India's soil. His Bengali relatives advised him to take a widow. Reluctantly, Deodat saw the necessity for compromise, and permitted the words ‘widow acceptable’ to be included in the ad.
Several months later Ma stepped off a ship at the Georgetown harbour. It was as easy as that.
M A MOVED INTO W ATERLOO S TREET , and three children were born at two-year intervals: Indrani, Ganesh and Sarojini. Deodat could not have been more pleased, because Ma was exactly what he'd wanted, a still, silent, good spirit of the house, devoted to the children, a good cook, and, above all, an ardent devotee of Shiva.
The first thing Ma did when she came to Waterloo Street was install the puja room, and she was quite happy to hang up pictures of Krishna and Rama and Vishnu's consort Lakshmi next to those of Siva, Saraswati, and Ganesh, as well as pictures of Jesus, Mary and Buddha. So Baba was satisfied — almost. There were only two bitter drops in his life. The first was that Natarajeshwar, Nathuram and Narendra all refused to move back into Baba's household. Narendra was only
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