White Settler Culture on Hill Societies of India: A Comparative Study of Selected Works of Indra Bahadur Rai and Ganesh Saili

Abstract

The aim of this study is to discuss the impact of white settler culture (or British colonial power) on two indigenous hill societies of India, Darjeeling and Mussoorie. It investigates how the white settler culture entered India and its establishment in hill societies of India. Through a postcolonial reading of Indra Bahadur Rai’s There’s a Carnival Today and Ganesh Saili’s Mussoorie Medley, focused on the two hill stations of India, Darjeeling and Mussoorie. The white settlers faced the heat and the diseases of Indian plains, which were unsuitable for them. They were looking for a climate that felt closer to Europe. They chose the hill stations to escape the heat and different diseases of the plains area. With the passage of time, these places gradually developed into spaces where British institutions, lifestyles, architecture, education, administrative practices, and economic systems were established over existing indigenous social structures. The study argues that the creation of colonial hill stations transformed these regions into spaces of cultural hierarchy, economic exploitation, social differentiation, and political control.