Brown Sahibs and Brown Babus

About 20 years ago on my trip to India, I had a very interesting conversation with a close family friend in New Delhi. This respectable member of society and a very successful Sikh businessman was oblivious on the impact of 1984 Genocide on the Sikhs of Delhi. I questioned him if he feels the pain of the families who suffered in 1984. To my dismay, he emphatically stated, "Look, I have no empathy for the likes of Sikh taxi drivers. I have no connection with them .. I can't even understand their rural Punjabi accent. I have more in common with my friends in Delhi with whom I grew up .. and meet everyday for business or socially."

I was shocked and attributed it to the selective amnesia of a successful man who wants to disconnect from his religious and cultural roots for the sake of financial and political gains. But I was wrong as he is not unique in his thinking process. There is a whole class of Brown "Babus" and "Sahibs" who find it hard to connect with their own heritage and at times feel ashamed of their own people.

Pundit Nehru symbolizes Brown sahib

Brown Sahibs of the British Raj

The British were very cunning in understanding the social hierarchy and caste system in India. they exploited this knowledge to their full advantage. Not only they created a faithful and subservient middle class to run the administration in India, they also nurtured an aristocratic upper class who will mimic the British mannerism and social etiquette. These "Babus" and "Sahibs" came from the already existing class system thanks to the Brahminical system of castes.

Brown Sahibs of British Raj

"Brown Sahib" is a term used to refer to natives of South Asia who are heavily influenced by Western/British culture and thinking. They imitate Western typically English lifestyle. A Brown sahib will usually have an unfair bias towards West vis-à-vis East. Brown Sahibs invariably dressed in Western clothes, loved Western food, music and the arts and professed a particular affinity for the English language. 

Role of Missionary Schools

The British are rightfully credited for developing an effective education system in India. Universities, colleges, and medical institutes were set up across Indian geography selectively to mass produce an educated middle class workforce. The schools were originally developed for the education of British expats working in India during the Raj. Soon the Indian aristocrats lined up there to educate their off springs in the "British" way. Later more schools were added across the country and open to the upper middle class Indians only.

Indian student of a British School in India

These schools produced "Brown Sahibs" and "Brown Babus" in mass scale. These young Indians looked up to the British lifestyle and scorned on their fellow countrymen. Soon the resilient Indians woke up to the reality. It started with proposed conversion of four Sikh youths to Christianity in Lahore. The news sent shock waves across Punjab. Indians responded with their own version of schools mimicking the British Models. Soon the DAV (Dayanand Anglo Vedic) Colleges, SD (Sanatan Dharm) Colleges, and Khalsa Colleges emerged to counter the impact of Christian missionary colleges. 

Long-lasting Impact

But the damage was already done to the psyche of the youth of Indian middle class. These young men and women were psychologically separated from the Indian masses. Indian parents lined up to get their children educated in Christian schools as it became a status symbol. This trend continued post independence. Even the leaders of independent India and Pakistan - Gandhi, Nehru, and Jinnah were produce of these British schools. In public, they wore Khadi and preached to the Indian masses but in private they lived in very British lifestyles.

Pundit Nehru with Lady Edwina Mountbatten

Traitors of the Nation or Prisoners of their Profile

Ever wondered why all the perpetrators of atrocities against the Sikhs were mostly Sikhs themselves. For example Major General KS Brar who led the operation Blue Star is not only a Sikh but also belonged to the same clan of Jatt Sikhs, as that of Sant Bhindranwale. Both belonged to the Brar clan who stood by Guru Gobind Singh during turbulent times. So why did they turn out so different? KS Brar was educated in English speaking Col. Brown Cambridge School and Doon school. Just like my friend in Delhi, he could not connect with his own people.

Maj Gen KS Brar with his Security

In fact, the officers of Indian Army are finding it hard to connect with their troops. There has been many cases of insubordination, most famous being the mutiny of Sikh soldiers during the operation blue star.

Brown Sahibs of Indian Diaspora

In last 50-70 years the Indian diaspora has grown in countries like UK, Canada, and USA. You are beginning to see third or fourth generations of Indian immigrants in some places like London. The vast majority of Indians immigrants took up blue collar jobs in these countries. But there was another group of immigrants who wanted to be British and live like they had always fantasized in India. These were the produce of Christian missionary schools, young "Brown Sahibs" and "Brown Babus". They felt that they belonged more to the British and wanted to forget their past. They made efforts to remove any stains of Indian accent in their vocabulary and talked about "Liverpool" and "Man United" to get acceptance with the locals.

Maharaja Duleep Singh of Lahore as London Socialite

No one symbolizes the "Brown Sahibs" of Indian diaspora better than Maharaja Duleep Singh, the scion of the Emperor of Punjab. Pulled away from his mother at the age of eight and sent in exile to Britain, Duleep Singh tried his best to acclimatize to British lifestyle. He converted to Christianity, lived as a British aristocrat but could not forget his homeland. He died trying hard to reach Punjab with no success.

I believe that all of us residing outside India have a little bit of Maharaja Duleep Singh in us. We are eager to assimilate but yearn for our roots. We take pride and show off our heritage but as soon as someone compares us to a Sikh taxi driver, we want to differentiate ourselves from the masses.

So, does that make us a "Brown Sahib" or a coconut, that is brown from outside but white inside?

References

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Sahib