Tracks of nostalgia

Kharagpur Railway workshop in 1940

On August 2, which was World Anglo-Indian Day, members of the community must have celebrated in their boroughs in Bow Barracks, Kolkata, or Richards Town in Bengaluru with luncheons and Jim Reeves's classics on the record player. The few thousands who are scattered across India and in pockets in Australia, England, New Zealand and Canada have a mixed lineage that emerged from two waves of migrations - via the Portuguese, Dutch and French invasions, and later, from England. The legacy merges their European roots with their Indian upbringing. Paying a warm tribute to this community when World War II arrived at India's doors, Kitty's War is set in a railway junction where Katherine Riddle's life turns upside down amidst historic and personal upheavals. Anglo-Indians veered towards such settlements because they were a vital cog in India's railroad development. This writer had met Daman, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's daughter at an Anglo-Indian reunion in 2019. She revealed that the book emerged from her association with Anglo-Indian teachers and educational institutions. The book is set during the Raj's last days and portrays the dilemma faced by a community caught in no-man's land.

Log on to: amazon.in/westlandbooks; @westlandbooks