A Servant and a CIE

                                                    

   A few months ago, one of the leading English newspapers of Delhi published in its Sunday editions about the growing demands of the Indian house cleaners and maids not only in Indian households but also in the NRI families abroad and the good salaries they earn nowadays.

   Here is a true story of an Indian servant, who rose to the pinnacle of glory while beginning his career as a waiter.

   Hafiz Abdul Karim was born in 1863 in Agra. His father was working as a native healer in Agra jail.

  In 1887, Karim went to England as one of the two Indian servants brought over to mark the golden jubilee celebrations of Queen Victoria and began his career as a dinning room waiter.

  Because of his good services Queen Victoria herself took great liking for him. After winning the queen’s confidence Karim told her that in India he was working as a clerk (munshi) and hence he does not like his present job as a waiter.

 Hearing this queen granted him the unique post of “The Queen’s Munshi” in 1889. Karim began to give Hindustani and Urdu language lessons to queen and taught her about the Indian customs and religions. Later Karim became the first personal Indian clerk to the queen. After that in 1894, he was promoted as queen’s “Indian Secretary” (not to be confused with the cabinet office of Secretary of State for India).

 Enjoying the backings of the queen, he also took some advantages of his position, which caused heartburns and resentments from the court. Naturally, the members of the royal court always looked upon Karim as a lowly Indian native subject and brought the exaggerations of   Karim to the notice of the queen. However, queen defended Karim throughout and dismissed all allegations against him as racial prejudices.

 Ministers and officials of the queen also doubted that Karim had association with Rafiuddin Ahmed, an Indian politician and resident of London and a candidate for parliament. They feared that Ahmed would get confidential information of the queen’s court from Karim. There was also a rumour that he was influencing queen’s attitude and opinions and ultimately the British foreign policy in India. However, Karim remained dignified and impeccable despite confronting these types of racial attacks.

  Karim brought his wife and other family members from India to England where they were settled at government expenses. Queen awarded him land in Agra, cottages at Balmorals, Windsor and Osborne and commissioned two portraits of him by famous artists Rudolf Swoboda in 1888 and Von Angeli in 1890. Ultimately, he was decorated with the coveted royal honour of Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE). This decoration was generally awarded to high-ranking British officials working in India including ICS officers. Bankim Chandra Chattopdhyay, the writer of the Vande Mataram, also won this award because of his tremendous administrative capability while working as Deputy Magistrate. Moreover he was also the first graduate of India and of Calcutta University. Karim was the first and the last person who has won this coveted award as a person who began his career as a waiter.

  In 1901, after the death of Queen Victoria, her son King Edward VII dismissed Abdul Karim from royal court. Nevertheless, he was allowed to be the last to view the queen’s body before the casket was closed and to attend the funeral procession. After that, Karim returned to India and stayed in his home, Karim Lodge in Agra, until his death in 1909.

 In his brief lifetime of forty-six years, Abdul Karim has proved that we Indians are really an amazing lot. We are capable of reaching up to the level of the CIE within a very short time of thirteen years, from the position of an ordinary servant.