They played a crucial role as intermediaries between two worlds. But bridging worlds came at a great cost, one that gave rise to many complex problems – social, physical and emotional – for these brave and dedicated caregivers
During the peak years of “Raj days’, ‘Ayahs’, the Indian equivalent of British nannies, employed in British homes, provided crucial childcare and domestic support. By 1860, they had become somewhat of an institution, an indispensable part of colonial life in India. The institution developed from the 1860s, where ayahs played a crucial role as intermediaries between two worlds.
The ayahs highlighted the critical interplay between British officials and their Indian domestic workforce.
Specifically employed to look after the children, Ayahs were often expected to additionally attend to their mistresses or ‘memsahibs’ and engage in other household duties as well. When families travelled to England on holidays, many of the Ayahs went along too. But this practice had a serious downside.
For the thousands of Indian women who worked as nannies, bridging worlds came at a great cost, one that gave rise to many complex problems – social, physical and emotional.
Suddenly exposed to an unfamiliar country, with an almost alien environment, made the Ayahs feel isolated and lonely and terribly homesick.
These women also came to be known as ‘travelling ayahs’, because of the repeated and long sea crossing they would have to make between India and England helping families to look after children during the journey
Unmistakably their lives were no picnic. Childcare meant that they had to look after every aspect of their well-being. The children had to be fed, washed, bathed and at all the times well-groomed. The Ayahs had to sleep on mats in the children’s room, to be on hand in case any of the kids woke up at night and needed something.
So, after all said and done, this was actually a 24-hour job, with little respite in between. However, in spite of all the hardships they had to endure, many of them chose to stay and settle down in England.
The need for the ayah declined sharply after the 1950s. But their services have not entirely been forgotten.
For the convenience of retiring Ayahs, a home was set by Christian missionaries in a four-storey building in the Hackney district of London. It was in use from 1900 to 1921. Later the premises was vacated after the home shifted to a nearby building. However, there are no available details about when the home eventually closed down.
English Heritage, which commemorates London buildings associated with the famous and deserving with a Blue Plaque, intends to honour the former Ayahs’ Home in the Hackney district with a plaque, to ensure that their legacy is not forgotten.
The Blue Plaque honours not simply the powerful and famous but also those from a non-privileged background who deserve recognition.
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