How The All-India Anglo-Indian Association, which turns 150 this year, gave voice & identity to a community

The dilemma facing Victoria is something which, in the pre-Independence years, had long haunted members of the Anglo-Indian community — those born of a British father and Indian mother; or thereafter, of both Anglo-Indian parents or an Anglo-Indian father and a non-Anglo-Indian mother.

Barry O’Brien, author of The Anglo-Indians: A Portrait of a Community, recalls a meeting in 1942, held at Kolkata’s (then Calcutta) Dalhousie Institute club, where gathered Anglo-Indians sang ‘God save the king’ (George VI was the monarch of Britain at the time). “Then came Independence and barely six years after the meeting, Leslie Cladius [an Anglo-Indian hockey player, part of India’s 1948 gold-medal winning Olympic squad] spoke about getting choked as he stood on the victory podium while Jana Gana Mana was played,” O’Brien adds.

Much of the credit for bringing about this transition in the community’s mindset and their acceptance of and pride in their Indian identity is given to The All-India Anglo-Indian Association, which is celebrating its 150th year this year, and its great leader, Frank Anthony, the founder of the Frank Anthony Public Schools, who became the president-in-chief of the association in 1942.

“The 150th annual general meeting [AGM] was held in October 2025 in Pune, which marked the beginning of the 150th year. The celebration will end with the 2026 AGM,” says O’Brien. “It was a grand three-day affair, with Anglo-Indians from across the country attending. At our AGMs, we have business meetings through the day; in the evenings, get-togethers, and finally, on the last night, the ‘Grand Ball’.”

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Set up as the Eurasian and Anglo-Indian Association in 1876 (in Bengal), it was renamed the Anglo-Indian and Domiciled European Association in 1880, says O’Brien, also the national president of the organisation. “The name was changed again to The All-India Anglo-Indian Association.”

He adds: “For the longest time, till about the first World War, the mindset of the community was ‘cozy up to our brethren from our father's side and hope for the best… we love India, but we're definitely not Indian’. It was Henry Gidney [who is also credited with converting the Anglo-Indian and Domiciled European Association into a national body] who made it clear to the community that the British were not going to accept the Anglo-Indians as one of them.”

In his book, O’Brien writes: “Right through the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries, Anglo-Indians suffered from an inferiority complex in the company of their colonizer half-brothers, while looking down on the colonized countryfolk… Oftentimes in history, this left them high and dry, which is why Sir Henry Gidney offered this sound advice in 1936: ‘Completely eradicate from yourselves the retention of the superiority and inferiority complexes… replace them with a complex of equality’.”

Talking about India’s struggle for independence, O’Brien says many in the Anglo-Indian community “were doing their job as employees of the government and administration – even wielding laathis against freedom fighters. It was in the era of Frank Anthony that the community started identifying with the Indians and their cause.”

Having said that, however, O’Brien adds that the community was against the partition of the country in 1947, but “because of its small number, its voice didn’t count”.

But to go back to the origin story of the association, and its contribution to the life of the Anglo-Indian community thereafter.

Referring to the period between the 1870s and 1880s, O’Brien writes, “Across the country, the people of India were organising themselves into associations with political, social, or cultural thrusts…this had a ripple effect on the Eurasians … Organisations and associations were founded by educated, capable and ambitious leaders, who were determined to unite, motivate and help the community in a structured and organised way…”. The Eurasian and Anglo-Indian Association was the first of these.

He adds: “27 March 1885 should be treated as a red-letter day for the community, and other Christians…A public meeting was called by the Association in Calcutta, its headquarters, where concerned and influential Eurasians gathered to share their thoughts and witness the inauguration of the Kinthal Fund… set up to improve the appalling living conditions of Christians, including Eurasians… The Association was building goodwill and receiving support from several quarters because it was quite apparent that its leaders were approaching the authorities to grant them their rights as a community fighting the odds.”

Talking about the Kinthal Fund, O’Brien says, “Yes, it was set up. But there are no records of money coming in or work that was done. Safe to say, therefore, that nothing effective was being done in terms of tangible changes in the condition of the Anglo-Indians.”

One of the problems which could have led to this, according to O’Brien, was that the community, and therefore the association, didn’t have enough leaders. “The community is so proud of Gidney and Anthony. But, in the period from the 1920s right up to the 1980s, it was primarily these two leaders,” he says.

However, none can deny the work and the effectiveness of the association.

One of the most important contributions of the association, according to O’Brien, was to give a noticeable identity and voice to the Anglo-Indian community.

“I don't think the community's official existence in India would have begun had it not been for the leadership of The All-India Anglo-Indian Association. Before this, the community was not defined; it didn't have a voice. It existed, almost without a name, in fact. There were so many names by which it was referred to in the beginning, some quite derogatory,” he says. In his book, he gives some examples — Half-castes, Eurasians, East Indians.

In fact, in Bhowani Junction, too, Master introduces both Victoria and Patrick as Eurasians, though subsequently they are referred to as Anglo-Indians.

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The association was also instrumental in securing the community representation and reservation in the legislature and jobs like customs, railways, post and telegraph services, in Independent India. Both reservations were for an initial period of 10 years.

“The reservation in jobs did not last beyond 10 years, but the reservation in legislature continued till 2020, when it was discontinued by the present Union Government,” says O’Brien.

It’s a subject on which most Anglo-Indians within and outside the association remain frustrated and furious about.

“The All-India Anglo-Indian Association’s view is this: the community has, over the past three or four decades, taken the education of our children and youth very seriously, who today compete with other Indians, and have, in fact, found openings in diverse professions – very different from the ones their parents or grandparents were in. Today, ours is a forward-looking community. But it is in the legislature that we need the reservation — for the very reason that was given by the then Law Minister (in 2019 – 2020) to remove it — our size. We are a very small community, spread thinly across the country. So, we cannot get someone from the community elected through the electoral process [on the strength of numbers]. Some of our problems are unique to us, especially related to our mother-tongue, English, and our educational institutions. We need our representatives; we need our voice to be heard,” he explains.

Talking about the government-cited population figures for the community — it had reportedly claimed that there were only 296 people who had identified as Anglo-Indians in the 2011 Census — O’Brien says, a more realistic estimate would be between 3.5 to 4 lakhs.

Unfortunately, there are many who are not members of the association.

“Sadly, some become members when they need some sort of help. Then, a few years later, they disappear and discontinue their membership,” says O’Brien. He adds: “Currently, the membership fee is just Rs 20 a month. That is the lowest slab; those who earn more pay more, the highest slab being Rs 200 a month. I have repeatedly said that if anyone is unable to pay even Rs 20 a month, tell us. The branch will help pay your membership fee or a part of it. We can even waive it. I make it a point to tell our branch committees that no one should not be a member of the association because they can’t pay the membership fee.”

There are also other smaller, mostly regional organisations of the community, so some are members of those.

And so, across 63 branches of The All-India Anglo-Indian Association, spread across the country, the total member count, as per a rough estimate, would be about 20,000.

The association follows a system of decentralised operations with each branch organising its own events and raising its own funds, “by reaching out to sponsors and benefactors both from within and outside the community”.

While Christmas celebrations are common to all branches, there are also events centred around the youth, senior citizens, sports, social and cultural events. At the two national events — the AGM and the national youth meet — members from across the country come together. In good times and bad, says O’Brien, the branches of the association stand by its members; providing support if there is illness or death in the family, ensuring the elderly are taken care of and moving them to an old age home if needed, helping children get into school…

“One of the most important roles of the All-India Anglo-Indian association has been in giving a boost to education. All children of members get a scholarship as long as they are students,” says Dr Cheryl-Ann Shivan, an educator and president of the association’s Puducherry-Villupuram branch.

Agrees Clive VanBuerle, who leads the Global Capability Centre of UK’s OneSavings Bank and is a governing body member of the association. “The biggest change among Anglo-Indians has been a curb in the school dropout numbers. In the ‘70s and ‘80s, the dropout numbers were huge. Things started changing in the ‘90s, but for the kids born after 2000, the dropout number has been almost nil; no one drops out of school anymore,” he says.

In fact, when it comes to education in India, the community has played a key role — not just in the lives of Anglo-Indians but in the case of other communities too, claims O’Brien.

“It was the association’s former president-in-chief, Frank Anthony, who not only founded the Frank Anthony Public Schools but pioneered the formation of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations,” he explains.

O’Brien adds: “Also, the various boarding schools and day schools across the country. Started by the Anglo-Indian community and missionaries, initially for their own community, for the past 70-80 years, it's predominantly students from other communities who attend these schools.”

Despite the strides in education, and therefore greater professional success and improvements in living standards, the community might be facing an identity crisis of a different kind today.

With a shrinking population, the number of those marrying outside the community has gone up.

“It’s still an urban thing. I would say 80 per cent of marriages are happening within the community, while 20 per cent are marrying outside,” insists VanBuerle, whose wife is not an Anglo-Indian.

Interestingly, both VanBuerle and Shivan — who, too, is married outside the community — feel that children of an Anglo-Indian mother and non-Anglo-Indian father are culturally more Anglo-Indian than those born of a non-Anglo-Indian mother and Anglo-Indian father. Both their spouses are culturally close to the community, they add.

“The identity is from the father’s side; one is Anglo-Indian if the father is Anglo-Indian. But I have noticed that the cultural influence of the mother is very strong on children. So, while those born to an Anglo-Indian mother and a non-Anglo-Indian father are not Anglo-Indian by identity, they are likely to be culturally more so, unlike a child born to an Anglo-Indian father and a non-Anglo-Indian mother, who is Anglo-Indian by birth,” says Shivan.

The college principal gives the example of one of her own former students. “An office staff once told me about this girl, claiming she was from my community. When I checked her name in the records, I found that she had no last name [unlike Anglo-Indians], but a family initial before her name [as is common with people of Tamil Nadu]. When I asked her, she said her father was Anglo-Indian, but at the time of her birth, her mother named her in the Tamil tradition. She wasn’t even very fluent in English,” recalls Shivan.

The association has moved with the times. In 2018, it introduced two new membership categories — ‘spouse of a member’ and ‘child of a member’ — to encourage non-Anglo-Indian family members to play an intrinsic part of the association and its work. “Apart from voting rights, they enjoy all the facilities of members,” explains Shivan.

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In another significant move, it has also started youth mobilisation in a big way to ensure that the younger generation remains aware of its roots and to build future leadership for the association.

“Thirty years ago, there was no looking ahead to build a youth movement. It was like, ‘Sure, you come and help us a little for the Christmas functions’,” recalls O’Brien. But when he became the president-in-chief in 2016, he knew he wanted that to change. “I gave it a name: AIAIAY — All India Anglo-Indian Association Youth. It has a president, vice-presidents, secretary and a national committee.”

The first national youth meet was held in Kolkata. Since then, it has been held in Patna, Bengaluru, Mumbai, says VanBeurle, who holds the youth portfolio in the association’s committee.

All branches of the association have also been directed to have their own youth committees and where youth numbers are insufficient, to at least have a youth group, to help out the main committee. “As a result, the youth involvement today is phenomenal,” says O’Brien.

In her first term as a member of the youth committee in Delhi, twenty-four-year-old Shenelle Quintal says the association has become a big part of her life.

“We meet bi-weekly and we plan different events and we're working on our social media page and on how to interact more with people, spread awareness about the community. We have a podcast called ‘Talk Curry with Me’, with monthly episodes. The Anglo-Indian youth in Delhi is not very active right now, we are trying to change that,” she says.

Quintal adds: “We want to also strengthen the future of our community and we want the youth to know one another, to network, to collaborate. And it's really great to see what all the youth are doing and just how we can help each other.”

At the Pune branch, the youth now get involved with all the association’s functions and organise events of their own, says branch president Shayne McPherson, also an educator. “They go and visit senior citizens during Christmas; it [the youth committee] is to let the youth feel that they are part of something,” he says. The scenario is a far cry from the time when he himself had first joined the association as a 16-year-old. “Back then, there was no such thing as a youth committee. We were just members. We attended meetings and most of the time we would be asked to go to the back or maybe leave the hall when certain business was being discussed,” he recalls.

The Anglo-Indian community was once visibly different from other Indians, say members of the community. They spoke English, listened to English music, danced, the women wore western clothes and often enjoyed a smoke or drink with the men. Now, this is true of many urban Indians.

In his book, O’Brien writes, “That the English language in post-Independent India has played a key role in education, commerce, parliament and many other facets of life is common knowledge. It has also helped people across the country communicate with each other and enrich our cultural diversity and interpersonal sharing. So, it’s time to pay a tribute to English, the language, and the people who have cemented its place in free India as an Indian language — the Anglo-Indians.”

He also lists certain “Anglo-Indianisms” — words, sentences and turns of phrases peculiar to the community. Take, for example, “We are just going for a loaf”, to mean to roam around aimlessly. Or, “He fixed her up”, to mean he got her to agree to be his girlfriend. The list goes on: toe jam for smelly toes, gob gas for smelly breath, bumfreezer for a coat that’s a little too short…

Some of these continue to be in use by the community. Others have dropped out of favour.

Still, language and cultural similarities are what Quintal cites as reasons why she feels comfortable hanging with other young Anglo-Indians as part of the youth committee.

Which is probably why, despite the once-quintessential Anglo-Indian Sunday lunch of yellow rice and ball curry having become more of a festival fare now, with pasta and Chinese food making more of a regular meal time entry, as in most Indian homes, O’Brien is confident that the Anglo-Indian way of life is “not going anywhere”.

“We can’t control that [the cultural homogenisation]. It’s a world issue. What we can do is get the youth to meet more often. To keep them coming together and keeping the Anglo-Indian identity alive, especially our culture alive, nationally, that’s the association's responsibility. It is also the association's responsibility to keep the youth connected to the community,” he says.

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The youth mobilisation does just that. As well as ensuring the other goal that O’Brien has set for his generation of association leaders — “to build a future leadership, at least two more generations” — is accomplished.

In its 150th year, the association is far from resting on past laurels. Last year, the association adopted “Empathise, Educate, Empower” and “Together, We Can,” as its vision and mission statements.

“The association has been there for 150 years; here’s looking forward to the next 30, 40, 50 and beyond,” says O’Brien.

If Master's Victoria and Patrick were characters living in the India of today, they would probably have raised a toast to that, found comfort and pride in belonging.