By far the most offensive term used was ‘country fellow’. We used this term to describe people allegedly inferior to us. The term was applied to:
Anybody who wore traditional Indian dress such as a dhoti and had such facial symbols as a bindi or vibhudi.
Anybody who ate with their hand rather than a fork and knife or didn’t shut their mouth when chewing.
Anybody whose parents couldn’t speak English particularly mothers
Anybody who liked Indian music (including Hindi and Tamil songs) or watched Indian movies
Truth is most boys were in fact of ‘country fellow’ origin. I certainly was for at home, my entire family ate with hand and further, we sat on the floor, cross-legged to eat. As I started interacting with other boys, I discovered most boys were of the same background. In fact, for several years I stayed with probably the richest Tamil family in Tamil Nadu (Madras in those days). That family went further and even used their palms to eat! Most parents either couldn’t speak English or certainly not proper English. Almost all mothers couldn’t speak English.
We were, effectively abusing ourselves by referring to our own ilk as ‘country fellows’!
Closely related to country fellow was ‘chokra boys’. Using this term was as offensive as it was stupid! For the term was used to refer to any poor boys who we came across outside school. Any North Indian or anybody with a modicum of any North Indian language would know that ‘chokra’ translates as ‘boy’. So the term was obviously a legacy of the language used by the British to refer to any young boy who wasn’t allowed into the school for any reason merely because he was poor! In Kenya, the British never called black servants by their names; they were always called boy! Thus, Obama’s father would have been called ‘boy’ by the British Colonial Masters he worked for!
Next came the offensive term ‘Bloody Black Bastard‘. This was sometimes ‘Indianised to ‘You b cubed’. This term was used as abuse against boys of the same colour! Obviously a carry-on from British times when the whites referred to Indians as black! Now Indians referred to Indians as black!
If a boy was being tight fisted he was said to be ‘Jewing’, hardly anybody knew that the origin of this word was with reference to the Jewish people by the English and Indians should have dispensed with this offensive reference!
Fatigues This referred to various menial tasks that were to be performed by mainly Class 8 boys. The origin may refer to the end result of the menial tasks; boys felt fatigued! Tasks included dusting the tops of cupboards, scrubbing the wooden floor with polish and coconut coir. The latter, confined mainly to Nilgiri House was a backbreaking task that involved getting down on hands and knees and scrubbing until there was an alleged shine.
Skinning up Certainly, in Lovedale this was used as a reference to torture; it was vastly more cruel than mere punishment such as press-ups. I would go so far as to say that what was done amounted to criminal offences.
There were other terms that could be called frightening! Thus , if an older boy told a younger boy ‘see me after …. ‘ (it could be anything: after lunch, after prep, anytime that the older boy chose) it meant the younger boy was in for a severe beating! This sort of ability to choose a time to administer a beating would never have taken off in a day school! Thomas should have banned the use of such a term and more important, the use of such a power to inflict harm!