Stick with me, it gets better than the title suggests.
While speaking with a woman recently returned from India, I bemoaned the fact I'm having a hard time researching the lives of Indian women in the 17th and 18th centuries, specifically in the Bengal region (this is for an upcoming series). She offered to help me with my research and this is how our text conversation went the following morning. Prepare to laugh at my expense.
Her at 1 am, mind you: Hi, sorry writing late. I am awake. You want info about women and housing during the 16 and 1700's
Me at 8 am because, Saturday: Yes, specifically the Bengal region
Her: Just googled and found some links, see if these are useful
Me: Here's my email and thanks for the help, I really appreciate it
Her: I sent you an Email. K, U R Welcome
Me (Thinking that was it): I'll go check those sites out, thanks again for your help.
Her: K. So what is the book ur writing? And for what ru writing it?
Me: It's a romance novel based just as the East India Company gets to India including the rule of Emperor Aurangzeb and (some top secret details I cannot yet divulge her). And I'm writing it to sell as an author. But I specifically want to accurately portray the Indian women and their lives and traditions and attitudes and feelings and social morays. And really dig into how they lived, including their day to day activities, what they wore, the colors of their clothes, what they ate, as well as the issue of castes, but I'm failing in my research.
Me, again: It's different because I'm not trying to romanticize the colonial era but really want to accurately portray the people living during this time and how they were impacted by the colonizers
Me, some more: Even though it's a romance :)
Her, after a long pause: K.
Snort. Love it. But, ummm, now I'm rethinking my premise. Not really. I think it's interesting.
But the problem remains in finding accurate descriptions of women and their lives in India. I really need an Indian friend who doesn't mind answering my, often off the wall, questions stat.
Fun fact: the term posh comes from this era. It references the wealthy people in the know, specifically the wives and British officers in the East India Trading Company who could afford it, traveling to and from England to India. They traveled a couple of times a year, for various reasons, including the Season and to avoid the oppressive heat in the summer. But they had a trick to ensure maximum comfort during their time at sea; they would book their state rooms from England to India port out and from India back to England starboard home.
Port out Starboard home. Posh. Port and starboard are nautical terms describing what side of the ship you're on. So there you have it. That's why something that is posh is typically something fancy and reserved for the wealthy.
While speaking with a woman recently returned from India, I bemoaned the fact I'm having a hard time researching the lives of Indian women in the 17th and 18th centuries, specifically in the Bengal region (this is for an upcoming series). She offered to help me with my research and this is how our text conversation went the following morning. Prepare to laugh at my expense.
Her at 1 am, mind you: Hi, sorry writing late. I am awake. You want info about women and housing during the 16 and 1700's
Me at 8 am because, Saturday: Yes, specifically the Bengal region
Her: Just googled and found some links, see if these are useful
Me: Here's my email and thanks for the help, I really appreciate it
Her: I sent you an Email. K, U R Welcome
Me (Thinking that was it): I'll go check those sites out, thanks again for your help.
Her: K. So what is the book ur writing? And for what ru writing it?
Me: It's a romance novel based just as the East India Company gets to India including the rule of Emperor Aurangzeb and (some top secret details I cannot yet divulge her). And I'm writing it to sell as an author. But I specifically want to accurately portray the Indian women and their lives and traditions and attitudes and feelings and social morays. And really dig into how they lived, including their day to day activities, what they wore, the colors of their clothes, what they ate, as well as the issue of castes, but I'm failing in my research.
Me, again: It's different because I'm not trying to romanticize the colonial era but really want to accurately portray the people living during this time and how they were impacted by the colonizers
Me, some more: Even though it's a romance :)
Her, after a long pause: K.
Snort. Love it. But, ummm, now I'm rethinking my premise. Not really. I think it's interesting.
But the problem remains in finding accurate descriptions of women and their lives in India. I really need an Indian friend who doesn't mind answering my, often off the wall, questions stat.
Fun fact: the term posh comes from this era. It references the wealthy people in the know, specifically the wives and British officers in the East India Trading Company who could afford it, traveling to and from England to India. They traveled a couple of times a year, for various reasons, including the Season and to avoid the oppressive heat in the summer. But they had a trick to ensure maximum comfort during their time at sea; they would book their state rooms from England to India port out and from India back to England starboard home.
Port out Starboard home. Posh. Port and starboard are nautical terms describing what side of the ship you're on. So there you have it. That's why something that is posh is typically something fancy and reserved for the wealthy.
