The Eyes of Asia | Page 3

children are beaten from their ninth year to their seventeenth year, by
men with sticks. Their women are counted equal with their men. It is
reckoned as disgraceful for a Baharanee to show fear when lights are
extinguished in the hospital on account of bomb-dropping air-ships, as
for an Ul to avoid battle. They do not blacken each other's faces by
loud abuse, but by jests spoken in a small voice.
The nature of the young men of high caste is as the nature of us Rajputs.
They do not use opium, but they delight in horses, and sport and
women, and are perpetually in debt to the moneylender. They shoot
partridge and they are forced to ride foxes because there are no wild pig
here. They know nothing of hawking or quail-fighting, but they gamble
up to the hilt on all occasions and bear losses laughing. Their card-play
is called Baraich [Bridge?]. They belittle their own and the
achievements of their friends, so long as that friend faces them. In his
absence they extol his deeds. They are of cheerful countenance. When
they jest, they respect honour. It is so also with their women. The
Nurses in the Hospital of my Baharanee where I resort for society jest
with me as daughters with a father. They say that they will be stricken
with grief if I return to India. They call me Dada which is father also in
their tongue. Though I am utterly useless they are unwearied of me.
They themselves hasten to restore me my crutches when I let them fall.
None of these women lament their dead openly. The eldest son of my
Baharanee at the English Hospital where I am made welcome, was

slain in battle. The next morning after the news my Baharanee let loose
the plate-pianos [turned on the gramophones] for the delectation of the
wounded. It comes into my mind to suggest to you that our women are
unable to stand by themselves.
When the Badshah commanded me to his Palace to receive the medal, I
saw all the wonders and entertainments of the city of London. There
was neither trouble nor expense. My Baharanee gave orders I should
inhabit her own house in that city. It was in reality a palace filled with
carpets, gilt furniture, marbles, mirrors, silks, velvets, carvings, etc., etc.
Hot water ran in silver pipes to my very bedside. The perfumed baths
were perpetually renewed. When it rained daily I walked in a glass
pavilion filled with scented flowers. I inhabited here ten days. Though I
was utterly useless they were unwearied of me. A companion was
found me. He was a Risaldar of Dekkani Horse, a man of family,
wounded in the arms. We two received our medals together. We saw
the King's Palace, and the custom of the Guard Mount in the mornings
daily. Their drill is like stone walls, but the nature of the English music
is without any meaning. We two saw the great temple, Seyn Pol [St.
Paul's?], where their dead are. It is as a country enclosed in a house.
My companion ascended to the very roof-top and saw all the city. We
are nothing beside these people. We two also saw the Bird Garden
[Zoological Gardens] where they studiously preserve all sorts of wild
animals, even down to jackals and green parrots. It is the nature of the
English to consider all created beings as equal. The Badshah himself
wears khaki. His son the Shahzada is a young man who inhabits the
trenches except when he is forbidden. He is a keen son of the sword.
It is true that trains run underneath the city in all directions. We
descended into the earth upon a falling platform [lift] and travelled. The
stopping-places are as close as beads on a thread. The doors of the
carriages are guarded with gates that strike out sideways like cobras.
Each sitter is allowed a space upon a divan of yellow canework. When
the divans are full the surplus hang from the roof by leathers. Though
our carriage was full, place was made for us. At the end of our journey
the train was halted beyond its lawful time that we might come forth at
ease. The trains were full of English soldiers. All castes of the English

are now soldiers. They are become like us Rajputs--as many people so
many soldiers.
We two saw houses, shops, carriages, and crowds till our souls were
broken. The succeeding days were as the first, without intermission.
We begged at last to be excused from the sight of the multitudes and
the height of the houses.
We two agreed that understanding is most needful in this present age.
We in India must get education before all things. Hereafter we Rajputs