A Girl's Daily Life in a British Colony

by Helen Morton (14)

I luxuriate in the bath for a while, and the Ayah helps me dress and combs my hair, then it’s down stairs to join Mother for breakfast. Father will have left for his regiment much earlier. Breakfast is eaten on the terrace, and normally consists of fruit, kedgeree and perhaps some bacon or a devilled kidney or two, all served by Ahmed, our tuckerwallah.

After breakfast, I go for a walk with the Ayah, then I have lessons in the nursery with my Governess, Miss Pelham. We are normally joined by three other children who live nearby, Lindsay McKay, Elspeth Stoneyhurst and Frederick Hopwood. Miss Pelham is nice most of the time, but if we don’t pay attention then we get the strap on our bare bottoms, so normally we sit up straight and listen to everything she says. She is always much more lenient with Frederick, and often lets him get away with things. However, she never lets us girls get away with anything. Sometimes, in a morning, all three of us girls end up in a line at the front of the nursery, touching our toes and waiting for the strap. Especially when it's Latin, or maths. Ugh - SO boring!

Lessons normally finish at 1pm, and then it is time for luncheon, which I eat with Father and Mother. By now it will be quite hot, and the punkawallah, with his hand operated fan, is hard put to keep the room cool. Father likes to drink a glass of sherry with his luncheon, and we sit around the table discussing the morning. I like this because it makes me feel grown up, and Father often grumbles and complains about the other officers in his regiment. After the meal we drink coffee, then I must go and have my afternoon rest, in my bedroom.

I normally lie on my bed, or play with my dolls, and the house is very quiet at this time because Father has gone back to work, Mother is having her nap, and the servants have the afternoon off. At 4 o’clock I am allowed out, and we have a spot of tiffen. By now it is cooler, so I either go horse riding, or we go to the Club and play tennis. If we’re at the Club, then Father normally joins us there a little later, and has a chota peg in the bar with his friend Colonel Bellington. My horse’s name is Hercules, and he lives in the stables at the back of our house.

I have supper at 7 o'clock in the nursery, with Miss Pelham, and often she likes to go over the morning's lessons with me. This is a swizz and a bore, and it doesn't happen to the other children because they're all at home. But there's nothing I can do about it because if I act up, she'll only make me lie across the end of the bed with my knickers down, then fetch the strap, and I don't want that. I definitely don't want that!

After supper I am allowed to play for a while, then I go to bed at 9 o'clock. Father and Mother normally have dinner at this time, and if they have guests, sometime I hear them, talking and laughing. Some days they go out for dinner at other peoples' houses, and get back late, after I am asleep.

This is a normal weekday. At weekends there are no lessons (hooray!). Instead there is a lot more horse riding and tennis, and sometimes we have picnics, or go boating on the lake. During the hot season Mother and I stay at the Simla hill station for two months, but Father stays here with his regiment. Father says that India will become an independent country soon, and then we will all move with his regiment to Malaya. I like living in India, and will be sorry to leave, but Father says Malaya will be much the same. I hope so.