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Sunday Feb 10th We arose leisurely and after breakfast I went to a brass shop and bought some things and then wrote till dinner time. After dinner or lunch we mended and wrote etc until time to dress when I again donned my new hat and we drove a half hour out to Malabar Hill to the house of Sir Peroysha Mihta, [illegible] Sea Road, Malabar Hill, to whom I had a letter of introduction. It was a queer house built as high as possible. We were led up some flights of steps and through passages to a room which commanded a fine view of the sea. The house was tremendously big and contained...
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...many things. It was a cross between a [illegible] shope and a museum. He is a Parsee and a great man - one of the leaders of the Indian Congress. He is intelligent and fine , but his wife was not his equal. I got some information I wanted and the experience was good. There were other people present. We admired the dresses of the ladies again and had a delightful drive home in the twilight. We now know Malabar Hill as well as a native.
Monday 12th we went this morning to see Mrs. S.G. Ranaday the wife of a doctor. It was a real Hindoo home in a flat. The dining room was a bare room with show floor...
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...and no furniture. As a concession to Western civilization, they now use a table about six inches high. They sit cross legged on the floor. This sweet faced little brown lady went to England with her husband when he went to study medicine and learned to speak English very well. She is a genuine feminist and is the daughter of a reformer. He was a Brahmin [illegible] who do not believe in caste of any kind. She took us to see a school for Hindoo girls, where the teachers are mostly theosophists and there were several men - all of whom give their time that is due to the spirit of the new religion. In the afternoon we went to Alexandra Institution for girls - mostly Parsees.
Tuesday 13th We packed in the morning and I went to the American mission to see what they were doing. After lunch we went with the Dutch Consul for a long...
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...motor drive to a textile factory where 300 women are employed. The minimum wages of the women is 5R $1.70 per month. Men ear 8$ or 2.56. The max [illegible] for men is 15R or one English pounds per month. The weavers bring in a small boy to help and thus train him up to this lucrative trade. Only coarse cotton is woven here, but it is a kind used here in India only. We next went to call on Lady Chanderwarka whose husband is a judge in the High Court. They lived in quite a [illegible] house and the reception room had European chairs. The lady, very fat and black, and a charming daughter Mrs. Sirur both spoke English and told us what is being done for the women of India. Now there are three schools for child widows...
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...but there are plenty more. When a girl becomes a widow she takes off the black beads which a married woman always wears and she also removes the caste mark from her forehead. She had a very bad time in life. She must not marry again, but occasionally now they do. This judge is a Hindoo agnostic and has no religion but calls himself a reformer. So, he eats meat and eggs for breakfast and sits at a table to eat them. He had to get a Christian cook for no Hindoo of his own caste (it is customary to have all servants of the same caste as the family would touch meat). But he eats alone and the Lady and educated daughter sit on the floor and eat rice with their fingers. The Dutch Consul...
