Read Book Online : http://www.archive.org/stream/amongindianrajah00frasiala#page/n7/mode/2up

Download pdf Book : http://ia700204.us.archive.org/4/items/amongindianrajah00frasiala/amongindianrajah00frasiala.pdf

...the chap in the excellent photograph (above) is James Cotton, a district officer in Madras at the end of the 19th century. As you can imagine, men such as Cotton were often out in the sticks for weeks at a time with little distraction apart from their work. One or two, in their spare moments, wrote humorous verse to keep their spirits up. I forward an example by one Alec McMillan: "My ruddy cheeks have long grown pale Beneath the sun's relentless fire, I dare not drink a glass of ale, And those damned seniors won't retire. Black scorpions infest my shoes, And batten on my best loved books. And last home mail brought out the news My Maud had wed that blockhead Snooks !"

They sure used to have interesting experiences in India. I give one such example. An English Collector's wife in U.P. invited some friends for dinner. They had hired a new khansama (cook) and asked him to pepare some pea soup. The soup tasted a bit rancid and so the Mem Sahib went inside the kitchen to inquire from the khansama how did he prepare the soup. The cook answered that he boiled peas with spices, strained it, and served it while still hot. The Mem sahib asked "And how did you strain the soup?" The cook replied "Through a sock, Mem sahib". The Mem sahib, in a state of shock, screamed " Through a sock?" The cook replied "Yes Mem sahib, but it was an old sock"!