An Indian Journal
Published on 31. December 1994
Book
Hardback
224 pages
978-1-85043-776-5 (ISBN)
Description
This is the edited journal of Nora Scott, wife of Mr Justice Scott, a judge of the Indian High Court in Bombay. The journal is much more than a personal diary; it gives a vivid, often moving picture of the British Raj in the 19th century, when it seemed to be at its most secure and confident. Nora Scott - herself a painter - paints a graphic picture of India, evoking the atmosphere of Indian weddings, religious processions and festivals. In the process, she also presents an important piece of social history and shows middle class life in British India, the harmony between the rising Indian middle and professional classes and the elite British Indian Civil Service. Among Nora Scott's circle there was respect for, and interest in, Indian culture, and easy social relations. There is no hint of the intense racism lurking somewhere under this civilized surface, nor of the triumphalism which grew later in the century.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 138 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-85043-776-5 (9781850437765)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
John Radford, who has edited Nora Scott's journal, served in the Indian Civil Service and is Nora Scott's grandson.
Content
March-April 1884 - Bombay life and weather, painting bullocks, Khandalla, a party of schoolgirls; May - meeting Indian ladies, caves and temples at Karli, a school concert; June-July - snakes, the rains, the Jain case, Indian baby given opium; September-November - Nasik, Bench and Bar at Bombay, Mohurram, Indian hospitals; December - prize-giving at Roman Catholic schools, arrival of new viceroy, volunteer ball, tributes and farewell to departing viceroy, Lord Ripon; 30 December-March 1885 - elephants at Kandalla, Mr Scott meets a Hindu priest, the Towers of Silence, Hindu and Muhammadan friends; April-June - party of 115 Indian ladies, the power of money-lenders, the cave temple at Karli; July-12 October - Nasik, an old leech woman, gunpattis, Hindu friend wins her case, a girl's high school; 18 October-4 February 1886 - account of riot, a servant's money stolen, Christmas at Khandalla, a prize for the Simla art exhibition, SPCA hospital; 9 February-April - Bassein, party for Indian ladies, Parsee wedding, power of mothers-in-law and plight of widows, a case in the criminal court; November 1887-June 1888 - a prize-giving and a bazaar, institute for deaf mutes, tableaux vivants for author's purdah party, a Parsee ceremony, Matheran, a stay at Poona in the cavalry lines; July-November - visit to Hyderabad, Golconda, schools for girls, a Muhammadan breakfast, paper chase, Khandalla again and alarm from a panther, Hindu puja and a mad musician.