Bradt Travel Guides Teatime at Peggys A Glimpse of AngloIndia.

For 15 Years, Award-Winning Travel Writer Stephen Mcclarence And His Bbc Radio Journalist Wife Clare Jenkins Made A Series Of Journeys Through India To Learn About One Of Its Most Eccentric And Fast-Dwindling Communities: The Anglo-Indians. Mainly Descendants Of British Men And Indian Women, Their Combined Heritage Stretches Back 350 Years Through The Times Of The East India Company And The British Raj. In Jhansi - A Railway Hub In The State Of Uttar Pradesh And Inspiration For John MastersS 1950S Book Bhowani Junction - The Anglo-Indian Community Is Reduced To Around 30 Families. Teatime At PeggyS Shares Their Stories.Inspired By Jenkins Own Anglo-Indian Family Connections, The Couple Immersed Themselves In The Customs Of This Little-Known Dimension To India, Soon Developing A Profound Affection For Their New Friends, Particularly For Two Of The AreaS Most Memorable Figureheads: The Title Character Aunty Peggy, Daughter And Widow Of Railwaymen, Overseer Of The European Cemetery, And Friend Of The Great And The Good, The Rich And The Poor; And Captain Roy Abbott, The Last British Landowner In India, Who Never Dined Without Wearing A Blazer, Cravat And Immaculately Pressed Trousers.The Authors Spent Hours At PeggyS Kitchen Table - Eating Cake, Samosas And Curry; Drinking Tea; Welcoming Eccentric Characters, Like Pastor Rao Who Could Recite Winston Churchill Speeches From Memory; Listening To Stories, Told In Lilting Accents, Of The Railway Institute And May Queen Balls, Monsoon Toad Balls (Where The Ugliest, Most Hideous-Looking Man Would Win The Prize), Waltzes And Foxtrots, Dancing In The Jungle To Victor Silvester Gramophone Records, Games Of Rummy And Housey-Housey, And Anglo-Indian Cookery That Embraced Plum Cake, GoatS Brain Curry, Mulligatawny Soup And Crme Caramel. Warm, Humorous And Evocative, Teatime At PeggyS Is A Lyrical, Loving Homage To The Anglo-Indians. Filled With Larger-Than-Life Characters And With The Ever-Present Exhilaration Of 21St-Century India, It Is Both Intimate And Revelatory, And A Testament To The Importance Of Tradition, Community And Friendship. This Enchanting Book Is For Anyone Who Knows India Well - Or Who Simply Yearns To Take The Trip Of A Lifetime To The Sub-Continent. And See Things A Little Differently.