On first landing from the steamer at the end of the voyage, the young Englishman is sure to be met by numerous applicants for service. The door of his hotel will be thronged by eager candidates for situations; but unless under exceptional circumstances, such as a fellow-countryman travelling homewards, and anxious to obtain a place for a really good servant, he will act wisely to defer making a selection until he has reached his journey’s end, when, probably, he will have more time to look around and make his selection.
The first and most important servant to procure is a bearer, and it is by no means an easy post to fill up satisfactorily. He should be a Hindu of not too high a caste; nor, on the other hand, of the opposite extreme, a very low caste. The latter is almost certain to prove a failure. There is much to be learned from the personal appearance and style of dress of native servants. Certificates to character should be carefully examined and received with caution; for not unfrequently these documents are forgeries, or borrowed for the occasion; sometimes copies from some genuine certificate supplied to another individual. The applicant for a place should also be questioned on the why and the wherefore of his quitting his last situation. As to caste, perhaps the kahar is the best for a bearer. Taken generally, the kahars are an industrious, quiet race of beings. One of their chief occupations is carrying palanquins; but the opening of railways throughout India has in a great measure done away with this mode of travelling. It may be mentioned that the title kahar many years ago was also the distinctive appellation of a Hindu slave.
As head-servant of the house, the bearer should always be well dressed, more especially so as one of his chief duties is to receive visitors at the door. He should never appear without wearing a turban, nor ever enter the house with shoes on his feet. These two latter remarks apply to every class of servant. Nor should a plea of forgetfulness for neglect of the same be ever accepted. The bearer is responsible for his master’s clothes; he has charge of the keys. He should be the first astir in the morning, and call the ‘sahib’ at the proper hour to dress for parade, the early walk, or ride. He dusts and arranges the different rooms while his master is out; and on the latter’s return has the bath in readiness. With the exception of an hour or two about mid-day, when the bearer disappears for his dinner, he remains in the veranda or within call. He keeps account of small household expenditures, again attends his lord on the latter retiring to rest, when the bearer makes his final salaam or obeisance, and takes his departure.
The next in importance among Indian domestic servants is the khitmutghar or table-attendant. It need hardly be mentioned that he is invariably of the Mohammedan religion; and great care is necessary in choosing this particular servant, for among their ranks are many low, dissipated characters. A single glance at one of these latter will generally suffice to make one aware of the fact. Old graybeards, though of course less active than younger followers of the Prophet, yet often prove to be better servants in the long-run. When questioned, these gentry almost invariably deny all knowledge of the English language; but, generally speaking, the Bengal khitmutghar, as he stands with folded arms and imperturbable countenance at the dinner-table, readily follows and fully comprehends the topics of conversation carried on by his English masters.
The duties of the khitmutghar commence at daylight, when he puts in an appearance bearing the morning cup of tea. Unless otherwise ordered, he is only expected to be present, properly dressed, at each meal. One of his most important duties is to be able to cook fairly well when called upon to do so, more especially when his master may move into camp either on the march or on a shooting expedition. Then he is expected to show his powers in the culinary art; and, generally speaking, Mohammedan cooks acquit themselves admirably in this respect. They are especially clever at making omelettes, soufflets, and such-like. It may be here mentioned, however, by way of warning to the uninitiated in such matters, that the native method of preparing a meal is not always too nice to our ideas, so that it is well to avoid visiting the cooking-tent immediately before dinner, or not improbably you will there see something or other going on not calculated to give one an appetite.
Next in our list comes the bheestie or water-carrier, also of the Mohammedan religion; but altogether a less troublesome mortal to deal with. Generally speaking, the Bengal bheestie is a good, willing, hard-working servant, seldom giving trouble or requiring reproof. His chief duties are to supply the house and stables with fresh water from the best well in the neighbourhood. It is the special duty of the bheestie to keep the chatties or earthen jars of the bathroom filled with water. Where a garden is kept up—and in hot climates there is nothing so refreshing to the eye as a few flowers and bright-green shrubs around the house—it is the duty of the bheestie to assist the native gardener in watering the plants. He also, morning and evening, sprinkles with water the flooring of the verandas, footpaths, and dusty roads in the vicinity of his master’s abode. This has the effect of laying the dust and cooling the air—no slight boon to exhausted Europeans during the terrible months of April and May, just before the first rainfall.
The dhobie or washerman is another important individual in the Anglo-Indian establishment. The great majority of dhobies are Hindus; but in Eastern Bengal, Mohammedan dhobies are often to be met with. Though given to assuming airs and importance, the dhobie is of low caste, generally speaking; a mild inoffensive being, plying his trade industriously, and giving little trouble to his master. There is a proverbial saying that obtains among the Hindus which pronounces a dhobie as untrustworthy; but in reality he is no worse than his brethren in this respect. The dhobie is one of the first to bestir himself in the early morning, and accompanied by a small bail or bullock, carrying his bundle of clothes, he may be seen making his way in the direction of some tank or distant pool on the river-bank. On reaching the scene of operations, he strips himself of superfluous clothing, girds up his loins, and proceeds to business. Soon the air resounds with the heavy thwacks of some article of raiment, which, twisted into a small compass, the dhobie again and again whirls round his head, and brings down upon a flat piece of wood or stone placed on the margin of the water. Each blow is accompanied by a grunt from the operator, as if to give an additional impetus to the stroke. This somewhat rough treatment is liable to wear out fine linen all too soon, and to make buttons fly; but considering that the dhobie has no mangle to assist him, nor any of the ordinary appliances of a laundry, and, generally speaking, only a small smoky hovel—probably filled to overflowing with his wife and numerous children—wherein to complete his work, it is astonishing how well he acquits himself of his task; the well-starched, snow-white shirt-fronts bearing witness to his skill and painstaking. Unless articles of clothing are plainly marked, the dhobie has a tiresome habit of sewing coloured pieces of cotton into the corners of every shirt and handkerchief, to distinguish them from others, which practice has anything but a beautifying effect. The dhobie considers himself so far independent that he need only appear at stated times, to receive or make over his master’s clothes from the hands of the bearer. He will never take service as an indoor servant in the house of a European.
The duties of the mehter, sweeper or ‘knight of the broom,’ are so commonplace as to require only a brief notice. He is always of low caste; and though often addressed as ‘jemadar’ by the other servants, he is always looked down upon, more especially for his habit of eating or drinking anything left from the table of his master. It is his special duty to take charge of and feed his master’s dogs. He supplies them with food at a fixed rate, takes them in the early morning for a bathe in the nearest tank, and towards sunset, produces for inspection, in separate iron dishes, the food which he has provided for each one of his charges.
It is amusing to observe how well-bred English dogs despise and turn up their noses at their native attendant, permitting the latter to lead them about and wash them when necessary without a growl of disapproval, but at the same time clearly showing by their outward bearing that no familiarities will be permitted.
Next we come to the syce or native groom; and in a stable where a valuable Arab horse has to be cared for, he is a most important personage. A really good, trustworthy syce is nowadays seldom to be met with. There are Mohammedan syces throughout Northern India; but the great majority are Hindus of low caste. The duties of the syce are, to groom and feed the horse he is put in charge of—a separate syce is necessary for each one of the horses comprising a stable—to be ready to accompany his master to the parade-ground, the band-stand, or for wherever he may be bound; and to keep the latter in sight and follow him any distance, no matter at what pace the sahib may choose to ride. It is astonishing what powers of endurance these native grooms display in this respect; for however far the distance or quick the gallop, he is seldom left far behind, and nearly always makes his appearance soon after his master draws rein.