Community members do their thing at the Frank Anthony School event on Sunday. Picture by Pabitra Das

For the Anglo-Indian community, August 2 is a historic day, when the government of India specifically recognised it in the Constitution. Although Anglo-Indians are spread far and wide across the world, when it’s a question of finding their roots, they always come back to India, because “without India, there would be no Anglo-Indian”.

The All-India Anglo-Indian Association is 127 years old, with 60 branches in the country. In West Bengal, there is Calcutta, Howrah, Santragachhi, Kalyani, Asansol and the railway colony in Adra, Purulia. Three years ago, it was homesickness and nostalgia that prompted the association in Australia to celebrate Anglo-Indian Day on August 2 – the Anglo-Indian weekly radio programmes broadcast in Perth weren’t enough of a slice of home.

It began with just the Calcutta chapter marking the day with panel discussions and exhibitions. Then, the rest of the country followed. Now, there are simultaneous celebrations in Canada, the UK, New Zealand, and of course, Australia. For obvious reasons, Sunday was the preferred choice of day this year. So, August 1 was when Anglo-Indians all over the globe joined in to retrace their roots.

This time, it was “do your own thing” at Frank Anthony Public School. There was music and dancing — from Aqua to Engelbert Humperdinck — football and throwball competitions, a jumble sale and food in abundance. The Rifle Club, the oldest Anglo-Indian club in the world, had dancing on Saturday and a family event on Sunday.

For the community, however, it’s no longer a throwback to the past, but more a look forward to the future. “Once upon a time, Anglo-Indians left this country because they were insecure and also wanted to find their European families. But the reason they are homesick now is because they miss India. These days, Anglo-Indians have the same opportunities as everybody else, because they are educated. They go abroad for the same reasons that other young Indians are leaving,” feels Barry O’Brien, a member of the association. “The Adra branch still has 96 members. The children are moving to the city, but the older lot is still active.”

The community is no longer isolated, nor does it feel alienated. Cases in point — the Frank Anthony inter-school extempore contest is open to all schools, and the Santragachhi branch of the association will be holding its third story-telling contest for junior school children in Loreto House next month. And scholarships in traditionally Anglo-Indian education bastions like the Julien Day schools is open to under-privileged kids from all communities. Education, stresses O’Brien, is the new stronghold of the Anglo-Indian community, going by the demand for teachers.

“We have 74 members in our branch, and they are all doing very well,” explains Michael D’Cruz, a teacher and president of the Santragachhi chapter. “Someone just bought a car, which was unthinkable for us. The difference is, our children do not expect ready jobs in the railways or postal service, like the previous generation. We are very active and have lots of events. A 67-year-old came dressed as Phoolan Devi for an adults’ fancy dress competition recently, and people are buying wigs for the 70s night on August 14.” As Shane Calvert, principal, National Gems School, puts it: “My brother lives in New Zealand. I could emigrate any time. But I am happy here.”