The Impossible Possibles Reminiscences of The Raj

THE IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLES REMINISCENCES OF THE RAJ During the nearly 150 years of the British Raj, they ruled India militarily and politically with an Iron hand. However, there were several ‘positives’ in terms of the relationship between the British and the Indians, This book reminiscences through some of these ‘positives’ in story form. In the first two chapters the book discusses the efforts of early British travellers to explore trade in India and the formation of the East India Company in 1600 C.E. Later it deals with the life style of the British in India and its influence on certain Indian families. It discusses the treatment of the British of their Indian servants and their means of communication through broken English called ‘Butler English’ akin to ‘Pidgin English.’ It talks briefly about the Anglo-Indian community as well as the British interest in the beautiful ‘Bombay Blackwood’ furniture. A chapter on British trade practices describes their trade in commodities like Spices, Cotton and Textiles, Indigo and Saltpetre. In the Epilogue it discusses the oppression of Indian farmers forced into growing more Indigo which led to the famous ‘Champaran Satyagraha’ or ‘Civil disobedience movement by Gandhiji in 1917, finally culminating in the Indian independence in 1947. “An Impossible made Possible.”