Interview number: 055

Interviewer: Thatcher, Mary

Interview date: 1973-09-15, 1973-10-25, 1973-11-17, 1974-01-24, 1975-01-14

Length 88 minutes

Condition notes: Pt. 1: hum. Pt. 2:clean. Pt. 3: some distortion. Pt. 4: distortion, worse nearing the end. Pt. 5: distortion.

Born 1906, Ireland. Wife of I.C.S. officer, Mrs Katherine (Kits) Mullan talks about her life in India. The recording is in five parts. In part 1 Mrs. Mullan is interviewed by Mary Thatcher and talks about Khasis and daily life for a wife and mother in Assam; part 2 is a monologue about dustoor (social customs). part 3, another monologue, focusses on Anglo-India, part 4 gives responses to a questionnaire sent by Miss Thatcher and in part 5 Mrs. Mullan gives some comments on Plain tales from the Raj, broadcast on BBC Radio 4, Nov/Dec 1974.

[See also: CSAS Archive – Mullan Papers and memoir, ‘Sands of the Desert’, and photographs of Shillong.]

Coverage notes: Khasis, culture; everyday life; Assam Valley Light Horse; Shillong; dustoor – social customs; dances; marriage versus career; children, separations; Anglo-Indians/domiciled Europeans; acceptance; origins; education and employment; (answers to MT’s questionnaire) – social life; attitudes; likes and dislikes; religion; home; culture; caste; settlement; comments on Radio 4 series of programmes of 1974 ‘Plain Tales From The Raj’; 1924-1941