Anglo-Indians whose contribution to the Anglo-Indian Community is not only a credit to the  Community itself, but is an inspiration to us all.

 

 

 Barbara Thyab Ali

 Barbara with her husband Sathar Thyab Ali

Born in Chennai on 19 December 1952, Barbara Thyab Ali calls herself a ‘freelance social worker’, but according to her supporters in her former quest for nomination for one of the two Anglo-Indian seats in the Lok Sabha, she is ‘one of our Anglo Indian Community’s Unsung Heroines. She is to us Mother Teresa of the South.’

Barbara’s father, Conrad William Correya, was the Manager of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption at Mambalam, Chennai, and her mother, nee Queenie Alexina Fernandez, was a teacher working for various schools and orphanages, including St. Bede’s, Santhome; St Mary’s Royapettah; St Mary’s Cuddalore; Doveton Corrie, Vepery; and St George’s, Amjeekara, Chennai. 

 

Barbara completed her Senior Cambridge at the Holy Angel's Convent in Chennai, before studying for her BA in Fine Arts (Drawing & Painting) at Stella Maris College, Chennai.  She went on to study for her Bachelor of Economics at the Bangalore University.  Following this, she completed the Government Telephone Operators Course, before completing a short course in Automobile Painting - Denmark - in Bahrain.  

 

But it is in teaching that she made her mark, passing two Ministry of Education Teaching examinations in the UAE, and qualifying to teach from Kindergarten up to Grade Six (any syllabus).   Due to her many years of service Barbara received a certificate for being the best teacher in the UAE from the Deputy Education Director of the Ministry of Private Education (UAE) and General Secretary of UNESCO (UAE) Dr.Award Ali Saleh.   She is the only Anglo Indian to have received this award.

  

Barbara and her Indian Muslim husband, Sathar Thyab Ali, were married in Santhome Basilica, where their four sons: Feroz Mark Ali (now Feroz Abdul Sathaar); Thalib Jude Ali (Now Thalib Abdul Sathaar); Roshan Desmond Ali (now Roshan Abdul Sathaar); and Akbar John Ali (now Akbar Abdul Sathaar) were baptised.  However, the Catholic Church in Bahrain objected to the family worshipping during regular services, and when the boys were old enough to understand, they converted to Islam. 

 

Working for Anglo-Indians:

 

Barbara & Leon (Sales & Marketing Manager, Al Khamdah, Dubai)

 

Although the family now live in the UAE, Barbara continues to work tirelessly to improve the lot of Anglo-Indians in India.  During a lifetime of service to the community, she has:

 

  • Conducted fashion shows and musical evenings at Bahrain, for the young and old, proceeds went towards the sponsorship of students in India, 50% of whom were Anglo-Indian Children.

 

  • Set up an appeal to force the Anglo Indian School Management to give preference to qualified Anglo Indians for appointments in Anglo Indian Schools.

 

  • As Preventive Officer, appointed by the International Anglo Indian Community, she has prevented some of the Anglo Indian School management from dispensing with school property (Trust Lands).  Adopt a grandparent scheme was introduced and still carried on, by the students of the Doveton Corrie Anglo Indian School (Group of Schools as it is termed today).

 

  • When the Tamil Nadu Government proposed Tamil medium to be introduced from standard 1 to standard 5, which would pose serious language difficulties for the Anglo Indian Students, Barbara, with the assistance of the former MLA.  Mrs Anne De-Monte, opposed this directive and was successful.

 

  • Helped (and continues to help) many poor Anglo Indians by supplying their everyday sustenance in the form of rice and other food items.  Some have been helped to obtain passports and placed in secure jobs in the Lower Gulf Region, and helped 8 Anglo Indian Men from being blacklisted and barred from entering the UAE for employment. 

 

  • Has sponsored the costs for the education of 222 (59 in Kolar Gold Fields) poor Anglo/Non-Anglo Indian students every year from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.  She has also given financial aid to students in Malaysia, the Uk, Russia and the Middle East.

 

  • Successfully lobbied against the government of the State of Tamil Nadu’s decision to decrease the welfare compensation of underprivileged Anglo Indian Students in all the Anglo Indian School in India. Rs 75/- p.m. was made to be raised to Rs 200/- p.m. in order to help the poor students of the Anglo Indian Community.

 

  • Teachers of the Anglo Indian Schools who had gone to court for various litigations faced in their line of duty and various exploitations made on them by the Non-Anglo Indian Heads of the Anglo Indian Schools, were assisted by Barbara’s efforts to settle their disputes amicably.  Many were financed through the contributions she gave in large to the Tamil Nadu Anglo Indian Schools Teachers’and Staff Association of which she was the Patron for five full years. She helped by paying the legal panel their annual fee and she helped to cover all cost up to December 2007.

 

  • Contributed a dissertation on the advent and contributions of the Anglo Indian Community which was published at a state level seminar (Souvenir 2003). Details of the History of Anglo Indian Schools in Tamil Nadu from 1723 AD onwards was highlighted in the same Souvenir, which was around the world.  CD’s were also sent by her to Anglo-Indian Doreen Jonas (Qld), at Doreen's request, so that they could be circulated to all the Anglo Indian Community Members around the world.

 

  • Barbara is now the Patron of Tamizhaga Anglo Indian Schools Teaching and Non Teaching Employee’s Welfare Association (Regd.No:377/2006).  Chairperson All India Anglo Indian School, Teachers, Staff and Parents Association, she paid for the panel of Legal department in helping over a 100 teachers and staff of the Anglo Indian High Schools in India.  She has helped to win over 10 cases in the High Courts of Chennai (there are over 50 cases pending and the legal panel on this Association will be taken care of by her contributions).

 

  • A Life Member of the Anglo Indian Guild of Service, (Bangalore), she helped in contributing towards the Bi-Laws for Mr Joss Fernadez the President.  Barbara's contribution included an antique sword valued at Rs 5 lakh, which was to be sold and the proceeds used to aid St George's Orphanage & Anglo-Indian High School, Chennai.  Although the sword was collected (by another Anglo-Indian) from former MP, Beatrix D'Souza in whose custody it had been left, it is not known if it was later sold or not, although nothing from any such sale has found its way to the orphanage or school. 

 

  • As Founder of The Anglo Gulf Club, Barbara has helped to send six families to Australia on migration.

 

  • As Patron of The Residency (Kolkatta), Barbara paid the school costs, board and lodging for ten Anglo-Indian students.

 

  • As the Managing Committeee Member of Indian Modern Science School Abu Dhabi, she helped to get placement for 10 Retired Anglo Indian Teachers from India to work there.

 

  • As Patron of Kerala Vikas Kendra, she contributed 100 Wedding Thalis (Keralite style-heart shape gold ones), for 100 orphans (15 of whom were Anglo-Indians).  Many of the orphans are working today.

 

  • A Founder of Child Vision (Kalyani), Barbara helped to sponsor 4 Anglo Indian girls with their day to day needs.  She also donated 240 kilos of clothes, shoes and blankets etc.,. to two villages, one local club and donated in cash Rs2500/- towards a door for the general toilets area.

 

  • She also donated a digital camera worth Dhs 500/- and 6 cell phones worth Dhs 350/- each; so that those in need could be reached and photographed, the pictures circulated to the world in order to get sponsors for the less fortunate Anglo Indians in McCluskiegunj, Kalyani and around Kolkatta.  She contributed Dhs 3000/- for setting this up.

 

  • As the Founder of Shelter and Protection for Animals (Marimalai Nagar-Tamil Nadu), she received  a certificate from Dr. Chinny Krishnan - the Chairman of The Blue Cross India for donating property for the welfare of animals in Chennai-India..  Barbara had given the use of her cottage for the project, which is run by her brother Trevor Correya. 

Trevor Correya & his daughter

  • Barbara also sent Dhs 100,000 in kind and Dhs 50,000 in cash to India, to aid those affected by the Gujerat earthquake. 

UAE:

 

Barbara has ties with a number of International Welfare Organisations, such as UNESCO; the Greeneyed Foundation (NGO), Bangalore; Special Family Services/Special Needs Children (UAE); and is well associated with the Secretary General for the National Commission for UNESCO, Dr Award Ali Saleh (Abu Dhabi-UAE); Sheikh Abdullah Jumma, the head of National Security for GCC (Ras Al Khymiah); Dr.Moh’d Kindi the Ex Minister of Water and Environment-UAE (Fujairah); Mr K Kumar the Senior Projects Manager for Dubai World; and the President of the ICWC-the cream of the Indian Business men in the UAE.

 

During the time she has lived in the UAE, she has:

  • Coordinated various activities with numerous Consular Generals in the UAE during the Dubai Festival Events,including the artistic and cultural programs, conducted with the help of school children in UAE.

 

  • As Administrative Member of the Special Family Services (Sharjah), her ideas and visits are welcomed by the parents and children as well as the management committee –(UAE)

 

  • An active member of the Special Family Group (Dubai), she has helped them single-handedly to raise Dhs 400,000/- by way of a dinner on the Savarona, Luxury Yacht of Mr Sadagoklo from Greece.  The money has helped to build a brand new regular school building for the Al Noor Special Needs School, C/o Mrs Safia Bahrai - herself a parent of two Special Needs children.

 

  • Her in-depth knowledge of who’s who in the governmental sectors of Education, Public Works, RTA (UAE), Rulers Courts, and other organisations, e.g., Emaar, Al Faraa, Nakeel, ETA Ascon, EMK Group, NMC Group, ARENCO, to name a few, helps her to contribute to the needy around the world today

 

  • A volunteer Member for Al Manzil (Sharjah), Barbara helped to get their entire Computer System sponsored to the value of Dhs75,000/-for their special needs children in the UAE.

 

  • A Life Member of the Muslim Womens Association (India) , she introduced the Islamic Syllabus that is being followed in the UAE for their KG up to High School Students in Chennai.

 

  • Barbara’s intervention was also pivotal in resolving well over 30 problematic child custody and matrimonial cases (20 of which were Anglo-Indian couples) in the UAE using local media coverage via The Khaleej Times, Gulf News, Gulf Today and 7 days.

 

  • Organized a number of Exhibitions (Signage) in the UAE and the GCC.

 

  • Organized a number of Key Exhibitions for the UNO in Bahrain.

 

  • Been instrumental in the Publishing of the UAE’s First-“The Business Who’s Who in the United Arab Emirates” 1996 Edition –see inside cover.

 

  • Closed Deals between Bahrain International Airport and M/s Al Ala Advertising – worth Dinnars 60,000/-

 

  • Her involvement was also pivotal in coordination of deals for Aluminium Castings and Signage worth AED 500,000/- between UAE companies, Bahrain and Oman.  She also assisted three Anglo-Indians in having their bank loans (taken out due to the loss of their jobs in 2006) waived/settled, so that they could remain in the UAE and take up other employment without any action being taken against them by the banks.  Also, after strenuous lobbying and requests made by Barbara to Dubai Immigration officials and the Indian Consulate, five Anglo-Indians and fifteen non-Anglo-Indians were given free airfares and their "Out Passes" so that they could return to India

 

  • Bagged the Dubai Mall Project valued at Dhs 2.5 Million,this January  2008, for Innovative Engineering Industries-Sharjah (UAE) - the company she and her husband own in partnership with local businessmen,.  The company is also booked in advance for the Mirdiff Mall Project worth Dhs 12 Million by August 2008 this year.

 

The company’s products include: Aluminium Castings/Fabrications:(Road Dividers,Camel Fences,Gates, Boundary Fences, Sand Trap Louvres, Decorative Ornaments for Buildings) .Steel cladding , Traffic Signs.Internal and External Signage.  They currently employ 14 staff, out of which three are Anglo Indians, and intend to emply three more in the next batch.  

 

“Any Anglo Indian who has technical work experience can send their Bio Data/CV(s) to my P O Box: 38485 Sharjah-U.A.E”, Barbara says.  Also, “Any Anglo Indian Mechanical Engineer, with knowledge of Structural Steel/or any such work experience who desires to get an employment visa into Australia, and later get the PR, may forward their details to my E-mail Id:   barba_rath_yabali@hotmail.com right away on reading this news.  Five years work experience is required and one must be willing to do the IELTS Test (For Australia), must get the required points for the English Test, this will enable one to get the employment visa to Australia.The air fare must be paid for by those selected.

 

I wish to state that I will help all those children who are born to Anglo Mums and Non-Anglo Dads as their case is very horrible if you meet them in person.

 Any Anglo Indian who approaches me for any kind of help has to show me proof of what they need and why they need this help.  I have given my word to my parents to always help any Anglo Indian , as they knew how they were never given a fair chance in life.  

 

That is why I will still go all out to help the children born to such cases.  My sons were never offered even a glass of water or a few grains of rice when we were very poor due to our intermarriage.

 

We were looked down on by all the Anglo Indians in India and abroad. Today my sons’ have made it in life, all because of my faith in The Almighty God and my repeated reminders of our past sufferings .

 

If I could have made it in life , then every single person  can make it , much better than I have.

 

God has blessed us with good health, good looks and the gift of the gab, this is from our Anglo Indian Heritage for sure.”

 

In a sad little footnote, Barbara adds:

 

 “I cried my heart out to see all the model cars my Akbar, left behind, I packed them up in a huge suitcase and I am bringing them to Melbourne, No wooden stuff, I will give the wooden ones to Chennai, my brothers are there still.
 
He lost his childhood room and these toys, due to our shifting from that huge house, on Al Wadha Road, Sharjah, and we gave him a small room in the earlier two bed room flat in Ajman, when the previous company played hell with us, he packed all these toys into two card board boxec and never got to open them , even after we once again shifted into this one bedroof flat, as there was no space to even open them up.
 
I cried to feel, he lost his freedom, his happiness to play with those toys, and now I have even packed his two favourite teddy bears his father bought him , one is called Brownie from UK when he was only 10 months old, and the other is called Blackie from USA,when he was only a year old.Today he is 18 years, and gone so far away.I can understand how he must have missed all the childhood moments, being unable to give vent to his own feelings, having to share both the flats with the grand children and my eldest son.Crowded was the word, but we managed to live so comfortable and happy , united as ever, this is what he has been taught -at least.Now he see them all having their own hugh houses, he has a very big room to himself, my third son Roshan has given him this comfort.
 
He goes for lunch to Thalib's when on leave, and to Feroz's house for dinner , he gets breakfast in Roshan's and lunch packed by Roshan's wife.(Farrah).He is so excited and too happy, he can't still accept the fact that he is in Melbourne.He will never want to return to India or to the gulf for sure.Pray he studies well and come up in life, thats all I want of him.
 
His bed is empty and its terrible to go near even his old pair of rubber slippers, without weeping, tears just flow down my cheeks,but I must be brave and never break down to him when I am on the phone to him. I must help him to be strong and take our parting well, he has to grow up and enjoy his life with his loved ones now.They are pampering him, they love him too much, they missed him so much I can tell, by the way they were calling for him every other day, when they all went away to Melbourne.”

 

Her words are eerily reminiscent of the days when Indian mothers were forced to relinquish their Anglo-Indian children when they were sent to England to be educated.  "Tuesday morning a huge box of lovely articles - shawls, kinkobs, turbans, &ca. - was sent to me to look at," wrote Emily Eden in 1872:

 

They belonged to a Mrs —, a native woman of very high caste and very beautiful, who was married both by the Mussulman and Protestant rites to an English Colonel —, who took her to England last year, and he died on the passage home.  She has never changed her native habits, cannot speak a word of English, and is quite helpless and ignorant.  She came back in the ship that took her out under the care of her eldest boy, who has been brought up at home and cannot speak a word of Hindustani; so he and his mother cannot have much communication.  All the magnificent trousseau which Colonel — provided for her use in England has never been touched.  They say it is quite melancholy to see her sitting on the floor, as natives do, with a coarse veil over her head, moaning over her loss.  Her children are all brought up at home as English people, and she will never see them again.


Thankfully, however, despite Barbara's sorrow at the loss of her children, things have changed a lot since then, and so Barbara and her husband are looking forward to visiting their sons in Australia in the very near future. 

 

Barbara can be reached at:

 

Address 1:

 

Building No 6-C,Flat No; 4 G, 3rd Main Road.

Dhandeeswarem nagar, Velacheri.Chennai 600042.

Phone: 044 22431755.

 

Address 2:

 

P O Box: 38485, Sharjah –U.A.E.

Phone :Cell No: +971 50 6914668 / 5697288 / 7390639

 

Address 3:

 

73 / 16. Southlock Street,

Chennai 600 085.

 

E-mail:  barba_rath_yabali@hotmail.com

 

 

And so, Anglo-Indians continue to contribute towards the betterment of society today.  If one person, such as Barbara Thyab Ali, can make such a difference, then imagine what a determined group of Anglo-Indians could do? 

 

 

Roger Ferguson

 

 

Roger was born in India and moved to London at the age of 13 with his family in 1988. Back in India he would watch MTV at his rich friends house and dreamed of one day being a DJ. When he arrived London, he made friends with established DJ's Rodney and Neil who encouraged him and taught him the craft for which to this day he is grateful. Roger fancies himself to be quite a comedian and on most occassions he makes people laugh with his somewhat unorthodox sense of humour. He come's from a family that in his words are 'Crazy' about music.

Roger completed his Commercial Radio training in Melbourne, Australia in 2003 and is a Certified Commercial Radio Broadcaster. His DJ'ing style is very impressive as he uses his broadcasting skills to get 'crowd interaction' and people dancing.

Roger is absolutely passionate about music and people, which is reflected in his musical presentation. To date he has successfully DJ'd at weddings, christenings, childrens parties, christmas parties, house parties, retirement paries, 18th, 21st and 60th birthday parties, he also regularly fills in alongside live bands at Dances.

Roger annually DJ's and MC's alongside DJ Lee at the Anglo - Indian day celebration in Croydon, Surrey. The Anglo - Indian day celebration is a massive event that attracts over 1000 people. In 2007, he realised his aspiration to own & run a community radio station, AIRadio.com

 

 

Blair & Ellen Williams

 

 (Blair & Ellen Williams)

 

After being educated in St Josephs Bangalore, Montfort, Yercaud and St. Mary’s Training College, Poona, Blair was selected for the IRSME (Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers) as a Class I Gazetted officer, and, after a four year training in Jamalpur, worked as an AME (Assistant Mechanical Engineer) on the Southern Railway and as a Works Manager and a Divisional Mechanical Engineer on the North East Frontier Railway. He was then posted as a Deputy Director Railway Board in Calcutta. While in Calcutta Blair was very active in the Anglo-Indian Association and in the Rangers Club. In 1976, Blair and his wife Ellen immigrated to the USA, where Blair worked in various senior managerial positions in the field of Manufacturing. He is currently an Industry Professor at Polytechnic University of New York. 

 

Blair is a Chartered Engineer (C.Eng) from London and has an MBA from Loyola University. He is a fellow of the American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS). He is the author of ‘Manufacturing for Survival’ Pearson (1997)

 

In 1999, Blair and Ellen set up CTR, a ‘not for profit’ charity to help Anglo-Indians in India. In its eight year of operation, the organization has branches in Canada, Australia and in the UK. In Jan 2007, it provides monthly pensions to 180 seniors in Calcutta, 90 in Madras and 30 in Bangalore. Without this pension most of these seniors would be destitute. In addition, CTR sponsors 40 girls as boarders at Loreto, Entally, another 45 young children as day scholars in schools around Central Calcutta, 30 in Madras and 20 in Hyderabad. CTR’s vision is to help every poor needy Anglo-Indian in India.

 

CTR’s website is http://www.blairrw.org/ctr/index.php

 

To make sure that a balanced perspective of Anglo-Indian culture is preserved for posterity, Blair set up an organization in 2002, specifically to collect and publish books on the Anglo-Indian culture and way of life. To this end the following books have been published.

‘Anglo-Indians – Vanishing remnants of a bygone era’ (2002) by Blair Williams; ‘Haunting India’ (2004) by Margaret Deefholts; ‘Voices on the Verandah – An Anthology of Anglo-Indian Prose and Poetry’ (2005) editors Margaret Deefholts and Sylvia Staub; and ‘The Way We Were – Anglo-Indian Chronicles’ (2006) editors Margaret and Glenn Deefholts. The gross proceeds of all sales of the book go to CTR. Currently ‘The Way We Are – An ethnic mosiac’ is under preparation and will be published in 2008. Details on the books may be seen at CTR’s website

 

Blair can be contacted at blairrw@att.net

 

From what we get we make a living, from what we give we make a life   (Churchill)

 

 

 

Bert Payne

 

 

Born in Calcutta, Bert Payne was only 16 when he emigrated to England in 1961.  Arriving in London in March 1962 he quickly found employment as an office boy at Sir Lindsay Parkinson & Co.  Bert’s career as an office boy was cut short when his teacher at night school suggested to him that he should choose a career as a Chartered Accountant.  Bert took his teacher’s advice and in 1963 began work as an articled clerk for Hagley Knight & Co.  In 1968, his articles concluded, Bert joined Price Waterhouse & Co.  The hard work had paid off. 

 

Living in India, Bert had, like so many Anglo-Indians, delighted in attending dances at the Railway Institute, dancing the night away. Despite his hectic schedule, Bert found time to pursue the same sort of entertainment in England. "For recreation, nothing compared to the Anglo-Indian dances in London, especially New Year’s Eve and all the Anglo-Indian Clubs were great places to meet people", remembers Bert." 

 

Settling into a new country called for some ingenuity, on Bert's part.  "Living in England, I made the realization I had an accent", he recalls, "Everybody kept calling me Bert Bayne (instead of Payne).  Eventually I realized that if I called myself “Pine” they interpreted that as Payne."  Despite such minor misunderstandings, Bert enjoyed his life in England, having found that once he had proved his worth, people accepted him.  "If you were from India you were deemed to have had an inferior education", he recalls, "which meant you had to start from the bottom of the ladder.  Once they realized you had a brain you could overcome any setbacks."

 

And Bert is living proof of this.  Emigrating to the USA in 1971, he qualified as a Certified Public Accountant, establishing a very successful accounting business, Starcare International, in California in 1981. 

 

But despite leaving India at such a tender age, he has never forgotten his Anglo-Indian heritage, compiling (assisted by Lynne Rebeiro) a website, www.anglo-indians.com, dedicated to all things Anglo-Indian.  He has also been a long-term supporter of CTR.