Summary
Set in colonial India, "By Any Other Name" explores a few days in the lives of two young sisters, Premila and Santha, who find themselves enrolled in an Anglo-Indian day school. Against the backdrop of British colonial rule, the story takes place in a provincial town where the clash of cultures becomes evident in the sisters' struggle to reconcile their Indian heritage with the expectations imposed by the British-run educational system.
Told as a memoir, Santha recalls her introduction to the British education system in India. Although Premila and Santha usually receive their education at home, their father's new work assignment and mother's declining health lead them to this new educational experience. On their first day, the English headmistress, struggling with pronouncing their Indian names, promptly provides English alternatives—Pamela for Premila and Cynthia for Santha. This seemingly innocuous act sets the stage for a narrative that explores the complexities of cultural identity and the impact of Western education on traditional identities.
Santha immediately finds that "if one's name is changed, one develops a curious form of dual personality." She notices that her persona as Cynthia, the student, differs from her usual identity of Santha. However, Santha still looks for the other Indian children in her class.
A moment of embarrassment occurs when the teacher asks Santha to introduce herself and tell the class her name. Struggling to understand her two identities, Santha tells the class that she doesn't know her name. The English children in the class laugh at this, but one of the Indian students subtly consoles her by putting "out her hand and very lightly touch[ing] my arm. She still didn't smile."
Santha spends most of her first day at the school bored. She feels the spelling lessons are too childish, yet is stumped by the word "apple," something she had not encountered before. At lunch, Santha notes that she and Premila are the only students who have Indian food. Everyone else, including the other Indian students, brought sandwiches to eat.
During recess, Santha has difficulty understanding competitive games due to a different upbringing at home, where she was always allowed to "win" as the youngest. This lack of understanding becomes evident during a game where Santha lets a small English boy catch her, only to be puzzled when others don't reciprocate.
At home later that day, Mother asks the girls how their first day at school went.
I was so pleased to be home and to have left that peculiar Cynthia behind that I had nothing whatever to say about school, except to ask what "apple" meant.
Premila has more to say and mentions that she expects to have a test later that week. Santha has never heard of tests before. Premila, using some new colloquial phrases she picked up at school, tells her little sister that she is too young for tests right now. She also mentions that taking sandwiches to school from now on would be better. Santha spends the rest of the day playing with the cook's son and not thinking about school.
In school one week later, Premila unexpectedly comes to Santha's classroom. Ignoring the teacher, Premila tells Santha to gather her belongings and says they are going home for good. The siblings leave the school in complete silence and embark on a tiring walk home. Curious and puzzled, Santha asks her big sister about the sudden decision. Premila remains cryptic and says only that they are leaving.
Not surprisingly, Mother expresses concern and curiosity about what happened at school and why the children are home at this hour. Premila says that during...
(This entire section contains 740 words.)
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a test, the teacher made her and other Indian students sit separated at the back out of a belief that Indians cheat.
"She said it was because Indians cheat," Premila added. "So I don't think we should go back to that school."
After a few moments of thought, Mother agrees not to send the girls back to the school. The family shares lunch, and Santha is sent to her bedroom for a nap. Overhearing a conversation between her mother and Premila, Santha realizes that her mother and sister assume that she doesn't fully comprehend the situation.
Of course, they were both wrong. I understood it perfectly, and I remember it all very clearly. But I put it happily away, because it had all happened to a girl called Cynthia, and I never was really particularly interested in her.