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The Search For Identity By Young Anglo-Indians

The Search For Identity By Young Anglo-Indians

What does being an Anglo-Indian mean for the present generation? Can they ever come together as a community again?

Missing The Past: Many young Anglo-Indians have left the country. Mostly the elderly have stayed back
Missing The Past: Many young Anglo-Indians have left the country. Mostly the elderly have stayed back Photo: Getty Images

As I sit at my Kinglee Xperience stall on a humid March day at the Indian Institute of Technology Indore, waiting for the next person to ask me about my work, as I prepare for my next event. I am jotting down my learnings and as I get to the end of the page, I’m interrupted by a man in his early 50s. He asks me my name in Hindi. I reply: “Aubrey King-Lee”. He asks me with a smile, “So you know Kung-Fu?” I reply: “No sir, I don’t. I am an Anglo-Indian.” He asks me: “Wo kya hota hai?” (What is that?).

I give him my presentation. Impressed as people usually are, he gives me a run-down of his organisation and leaves. I’m a rural entrepreneur who creates income and employment opportunities for rural communities through handmade products. We use our organsiation as a platform for social change. I work in a village called Udaypur Gaon in Madhya Pradesh, 150 kms from Indore. To showcase our products for a day at various start-up events, we travel back and forth.

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