Teatime at Peggy's: A Glimpse of Anglo-India by Clare Jenkins Paperback Book

Description: Teatime at Peggy's by Clare Jenkins, Stephen McClarence Teatime at Peggys: a warm, humorous and evocative travel narrative celebrating one of Indias fastest-dwindling communities, the Anglo-Indians (mostly descendants of British men and Indian women). Comprises culturally fascinating vignettes of time-warped encounters with eccentric residents, mainly in the railway town of Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. FORMAT Paperback CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description A warm, humorous and evocative celebration of the eccentric, time-warped and fast-disappearing Alice in Wonderland world of one of Indias most endangered communities: the 150,000-strong Anglo-Indians (mostly descendants of British men and Indian women). For 15 years, award-winning travel writer Stephen McClarence and his BBC Radio journalist wife Clare Jenkins regularly visited Jhansi, the railway town in Uttar Pradesh that inspired Bhowani Junction, John Masters classic 1954 tale of Anglo-Indian life during Partition. There they spent hours down the rabbit hole with Peggy Cantem - Aunty Peggy as she was known throughout the town, daughter and widow of railwaymen, overseer of the European cemetery with its 66 Mutiny graves and dancing and prancing peacocks - and with her great friend Captain Royston (Roy) Abbott, The Rajah of Jhansi, possibly Indias last British landowner and more British than the Brits. In Peggys tiny, crowded ground-floor flat, she and her friends would reflect on Anglo-Indian life then and now: the dances (waltzes, foxtrot, jive), amateur dramatics, May Queen balls (Anglo-Indian women were famed for their beauty), meals of Mulligatawny soup, toad-in-the-hole and railway lamb curry. Those friends included the ladylike Gwen, scooter-riding Buddie, Cheryl with her hotchpotch ancestry, Winston Churchill-reciting Pastor Rao, Peggys tiny and impoverished maid May, her cook Sheela and auto-rickshaw driver Anish. Conversations covered Monsoon Toad Balls (to find the most hideous-looking man), moonlight picnics in the jungle, pet mongooses, the British Royal Family… They also covered the history of the minority Anglo-Indian community, once designated an OBC (Other Backward Caste). The only community in India with the word Indian in its name, its now in danger of dying out. There are only 30 Anglo-Indian families left in Jhansi, many officially below the poverty line. Their first language is English, they often dress Western-style and their homes could be in the 1950s Home Counties, were it not for the mounted tiger heads alongside the Sacred Heart fridge magnets, the aviaries of parakeets outside, the three plaster flying ducks inside, the pictures of Buckingham Palace embroidered on the antimacassars. Teatime at Peggys is a valuable addition to the history & literature of this fast-dwindling community. AUTHORS: Stephen McClarence is an award-winning travel writer, specialising in India and the UK. His work has appeared in many newspapers and magazines including The Times, The Daily Telegraph, National Geographic Traveller & DestinAsian magazine. He has also written book reviews and features for The Times and has been an exhibiting photographer. Clare Jenkins was a regular contributor to Womans Hour for 20 years and has made features and documentaries, including about India, for BBC Radio 3 and 4, latterly via her production company, Pennine Productions. These include a half-hour programme about Peggy and her friends, broadcast in 2015, also called Teatime at Peggys . She has a particular interest in the Anglo-Indian community as one of her great-uncles married an Indian woman, whose name has vanished from collective family memory, despite the union producing two children and, subsequently, grandchildren. Author Biography Stephen McClarence is an award-winning travel writer whose work has appeared in The Times, Sunday Times, Daily and Sunday Telegraph, Daily and Sunday Express, Yorkshire Post, National Geographic Traveller and DestinAsian magazine. A finalist (and winner) in numerous travel writing awards, he won the major National Daily Travel Writer of the Year award for a Times article about Ramji, a rickshaw driver he met in Varanasi. He has also reviewed books for The Times and been an exhibiting photographer.Clare Jenkins has been a regular contributor to Radio 4s Womans Hour, including reporting on womens lives in India. She has also made hundreds of features and documentaries for BBC Radio. These include a half-hour programme about Jhansis Anglo-Indians, broadcast in 2015 and also called Teatime at Peggys. She has previously written books about womens relationships with Roman Catholic priests, and peoples experiences of bereavement, writes features for On Yorkshire magazine and is a member of the Oral History Society. She has a particular interest in the Anglo-Indian community as one of her (British) great-uncles married an Indian woman. Table of Contents CONTENTSCHAPTER 1: The holy man and PeggyCHAPTER 2: Captain Abbott - British India preserved in aspicCHAPTER 3: Inconvenience caused is deeply regrettedCHAPTER 4: A living god and a dancing girlCHAPTER 5: A cricket match and a dead cowCHAPTER 6: Hardly anyone knows what a foxtrot or waltz is nowCHAPTER 7: Caparisoned tuskers and naked menCHAPTER 8: God-fearing with sober habitsCHAPTER 9: The peafowls are. dancing and prancingCHAPTER 10: Madurai and marriageCHAPTER 11: A village weddingCHAPTER 12: Moonlight picnics in the jungleCHAPTER 13: May Queens and Monsoon Toad BallsCHAPTER 14: Jhansi Ki Rani and the Tony Curtis of JhansiCHAPTER 15: Each time she laughed, her eyeballs would come outCHAPTER 16: Youve never seen a better jiver than Peg!CHAPTER 17: The crane fell down, dead as a dodo!CHAPTER 18: My mongoose hasnt come this morningCHAPTER 19: End of an eraAFTERWORDGLOSSARY Promotional .A warm, humorous and evocative travel narrative.A novel take on Indian culture, and its interface with bygone Britain.A lyrical, loving homage to a fast-dwindling minorities community.A book for anyone who loves India or who yearns to take the trip of a lifetime to the sub-continent.Written by a husband-and-wife team: an award-winning travel writer and a former BBC journalist Details ISBN1804692425 Author Stephen McClarence Pages 296 Publisher Bradt Travel Guides Year 2024 ISBN-13 9781804692424 Format Paperback Publication Date 2024-06-07 Subtitle A Glimpse of Anglo-India Place of Publication Buckinghamshire Country of Publication United Kingdom UK Release Date 2024-06-07 Imprint Journey Books Audience General ISBN-10 1804692425 Alternative 9781784779849 We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:160378451;

Price: 23.53 AUD

Location: Melbourne

End Time: 2025-01-02T12:13:43.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 AUD