Kutcha butcha
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Kutcha butcha (कच्चा बच्चा) is a Hindi phrase that means "half-baked child,” and is used to refer to biracial people of Indian and (white) British ancestry.[1] The expression consists of two words: kutcha, meaning “uncooked” or “underdone,” and butcha, which literally means “child.” The two words together translate roughly as a child who resembles half-baked bread. It is primarily a derogatory term, meant to indicate the inadequacy of the individual, being neither Indian nor British, and it emphasizes the lack of belonging generally experienced by these individuals. Kutcha butcha is colloquially synonymous with half-caste, terminology that is characteristic of hypodescent, which occurs when offspring of mixed-race unions are assigned to the ethnic group that is perceived by the dominant group as being subordinate.[2]
During the period of British colonialism on the Indian subcontinent, English colonists, many of whom were employed by the East India Company, were encouraged to marry with the locals. In fact, the East India Company offered a stipend to Indian mothers upon the baptism of any offspring from an English Company employee.[3]
Over time, a number of different factors led to a shift in attitude toward the progenies of these marriages. Firstly, the development of the Suez Canal allowed for a much shorter journey from England to India; and more British women travelled to India. Secondly, as generations of Anglo-Indians began to marry each other and create their own communities, Indian women were no longer considered necessary for the colonists to marry. The result was the creation of a distinct group of individuals who spoke English almost exclusively, and were, by and large, loyal to the Empire. This created an isolating effect, which led to their self-imposed exclusion from Indian culture. Finally, when India achieved independence from England through the Indian Independence Act 1947, most English expatriates returned to England, and many Anglo-Indians left India also, creating a diaspora through the Commonwealth, in countries such as Canada, Australia, and England, itself. (It is estimated that there are one million Anglo-Indians worldwide today.[4]) And as Anglo-Indians are not merely the result of mixed British and Indian heritage—they are the product of a particular time and place, the historical circumstance of British India—those Anglo-Indians who did not or could not leave were ostracized, and referred to as kutcha butcha.[5]
Originally, the label given to members of these communities was Eurasians, or in the case of Portuguese-Indian unions, Luso-Indians. As the English became more predominant, and the Portuguese and other Europeans left the subcontinent, the term Eurasian eventually became inaccurate, and was replaced with the more-desirable Anglo-Indian. The phrase kutcha butcha refers primarily to the descendants of English fathers and Indian mothers (and their descendants, too).