very little sense of duty in a child ; yet in some well-regulated
nurseries obedience is a foregone conclusion. The secret lies
in making rules, and keeping to them. The Indian servant is
a child in everything save age, and should be treated as a
child ; that is to say, kindly, but with the greatest firmness.
The laws of the household should be those of the Medes and
Persians, and first faults should never go unpunished. By
overlooking a first offence, we lose the only opportunity we
have of preventing it becoming a habit.
But it will be asked. How are we to punish our servants
when we have no hold either on their minds or bodies } — ^
when cutting their pay is illegal, and few, if any, have any
real sense of shame.
The answer is obvious. Make a hold.
In their own experience the authors have found a system
of rewards and punishments perfectly easy of attainment.
One of them has for years adopted the plan of engaging her
servants at so much a month — the lowest rate at which such
servant is obtainable — and so much extra as buksheesh, con-
ditional on good service. For instance, a is engaged
permanently on Rs. 9 a month, but the additional rupee whieh
makes the wage up to that usually demanded by good servants
is a fluctuating assessment ! From it small fines are levied,
beginning with one pice for forgetfulness, and running up,
through degrees of culpability, to one rupee for lying. The
money thus returned to imperial coffers may very well be
spent on giving small rewards ; so that each servant knows
that by good service he can get back his own fines. That
plan has never been objected to, and such a thing as a servant
giving up his place has never been known in the author’s
experience. On the contrary, the household quite enters
into the spirit of the idea, infinitely jjreferring it to volcanic
eruptions of fault-finding.
To show what absolute children Indian servants are, the
same author has for years adopted castor oil as an ultimatum
in all obstinate cases, on the ground that there must be some
physical cause for inability to learn or to remember. This is
considered a great joke, and exposes the offender to much
ridicule from his fellow-servants ; so much so, that the words,
“Mem Sahib turn ko zuroor kdsier He pila denn hoga ” (77«c Me?n
Sahib will have to give you castor oil), is often lieard in the
4 The Complete Indian
mouths of the upper servants wlien new-comei's give trouble.
In short, without kindly and reasonable devices of this kind,
tlie usual complaint of a want of hold over servants must
remain true until they are educated into some sense of duty.^
Of course, common-sense is required to adjust the balance ot
rewards and punishments, for here again Indian servants are
like children, in that they have an acute sense of justice. A
very good plan for securing a certain amount of truthfulness
in a servant is to insist that any one who has been caught out
in a distinct falsehood should invariably bring witnesses to
prove the truth of the smallest detail. It is a great disgrace
and worry, generally ])roducing a request to be given another
chance after a few days. These remarks, written ten years
ago, are still applicable, though the Indian mistress has now
to guard against the possibility of impertiuence. It should
never be overlooked for a,n instant.
Page 4
Presented as published in 1898. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
very little sense of duty in a child ; yet in some well-regulated nurseries obedience is a foregone conclusion. The secret lies in making rules, and keeping to them. The Indian servant is a child in everything save age, and should be treated as a child ; that is to say, kindly, but with the greatest firmness. The laws of the household should be those of the Medes and Persians, and first faults should never go unpunished. By overlooking a first offence, we lose the only opportunity we have of preventing it becoming a habit.
But it will be asked, How are we to punish our servants when we have no hold either on their minds or bodies when cutting their pay is illegal, and few, if any, have any real sense of shame.
The answer is obvious. Make a hold.
In their own experience the authors have found a system of rewards and punishments perfectly easy of attainment. One of them has for years adopted the plan of engaging her servants at so much a month — the lowest rate at which such servant is obtainable — and so much extra as buksheesh, conditional on good service. For instance, a is engaged permanently on Rs. 9 a month, but the additional rupee which makes the wage up to that usually demanded by good servants is a fluctuating assessment. From it small fines are levied, beginning with one pice for forgetfulness, and running up, through degrees of culpability, to one rupee for lying. The money thus returned to imperial coffers may very well be spent on giving small rewards ; so that each servant knows that by good service he can get back his own fines. That plan has never been objected to, and such a thing as a servant giving up his place has never been known in the author’s experience. On the contrary, the household quite enters into the spirit of the idea, infinitely preferring it to volcanic eruptions of fault-finding.
To show what absolute children Indian servants are, the same author has for years adopted castor oil as an ultimatum in all obstinate cases, on the ground that there must be some physical cause for inability to learn or to remember. This is considered a great joke, and exposes the offender to much ridicule from his fellow-servants; so much so, that the words, "Mem Sahib turn ko zuroor kasier He pila denn hoga" (The Mem Sahib will have to give you castor oil), is often heard in the
4 The Complete Indian
mouths of the upper servants when newcomers give trouble. In short, without kindly and reasonable devices of this kind, tlie usual complaint of a want of hold over servants must remain true until they are educated into some sense of duty.^ Of course, common-sense is required to adjust the balance ot rewards and punishments, for here again Indian servants are like children, in that they have an acute sense of justice. A very good plan for securing a certain amount of truthfulness in a servant is to insist that any one who has been caught out in a distinct falsehood should invariably bring witnesses to prove the truth of the smallest detail. It is a great disgrace and worry, generally ])roducing a request to be given another chance after a few days. These remarks, written ten years ago, are still applicable, though the Indian mistress has now to guard against the possibility of impertinence. It should never be overlooked for a,n instant.