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Where's Little England?

Christmas tales from South Lalaguda

THOSE WERE THE DAYS A young Brenda introduces her team to a minister, second from right is Christine.

Before the Hindi movie Julie came along and created an image of a slice of England in India, there was this Little England in Secunderabad people identified with Railways, Anglo-Indians and Parsees. But it was the railways - their schools, hospitals, institute, playgrounds, cemeteries (with Father Manconi's spirit probably hovering there still!) and sprawling bungalows on either side of beautiful tree lined avenues. Today, the place has a sad air of genteel neglect as most of the original residents of the area have moved out.

A few years back, nearly hundred Anglo-Indian families lived in the Railway quarters of South Lalaguda along with ten Parsi families in one lane. Everyone knew everyone else. All the children went to the Railway High School where the nuns were employed to teach. Besides the nuns, there were a whole lot of Anglo-Indian women who taught in the schools - Mrs. Yates, Mrs. Skinner who taught music, Mrs. Williams and Mrs. Robson were a few names that Christine and Behram can rustle up, offhand. They also lived in the same locality.

Cultural activities

The average family had six to seven kids while some had 10. In the evenings, boys and girls of all ages used to gather in the Railway Institute, where they used to play badminton, hockey and basketball . The monthly social at St Patrick's School was the event to look forward to. Christine would go to the social riding behind her brother's cycle.

Then there was the May Queen Ball, which helped hone their dancing skills and the Christmas Carnival, which went on for nearly 10 days. There would be dancing on those days, lots of concerts and music and of course yummy food.

Boys and girls would go serenading the neighbours who would then offer them sweets and money - a lot like trick or treat for Halloween.

Brenda Armstrong flanked by Christine on the left and Behram on the right.

As for the dancing, Behram insists that there were three girls - Barbara, Lillian and Jinky who could dance all night and dance beautifully. All the boys wanted to dance with them. Of course the girls had strict instructions that they were not to dance with anyone other than Anglo-Indian boys!

Sundays were for the movies - 50 per cent of the crowds at Tivoli, Dreamland, Plaza used to be from Lalaguda. The 12-13 year-old girls were not allowed to use lipstick, so they would go to the railway station, use the toilet there to put on lipstick and then leave for the movies!

Lalaguda had the first floodlit stadium for boxing and basketball matches. The institute had a very large wooden floor for the dances and the regular tombola sessions.

Meet Brenda Armstrong, the captain of the Railways Basketball team. She is featured in the photo, presenting the team to a Minister. When she walked away, with her red floral parasol twirling in the bright sunshine, she could have been the dainty old lady anywhere in England or, for that matter, in `Little England', Lalaguda!

SHYAMOLA KHANNA

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