Living under the Raj

Back to family history today and particularly to the story of Florence Charlton nee Barry (www.blipfoto.com/entry/2765177953053576455).
 
Florence was born in 1882 and grew up in India. There were some things about living under the British Raj that never left her. Her vocabulary was sprinkled with words like ‘ayah’ (nanny) and ‘chota hazri’ (breakfast). When she wanted something, she had a habit of clapping her hands (to summon ‘the boy’). These are things I had forgotten until I started to trace Florence’s history.
 
This is an Indian carved wooden book holder. The folding ends can be pulled out to extend the space for books (extra). When I was a child we had two of them. It is only now that it occurs to me that Florence may have brought them home from India. Perhaps they, along with a polished brass tray with an oriental embossed design, were her last remaining mementoes of her days living under the Raj.