Note 132 — APPENDIX.

A rather contemptible practice still lurks in the Hindoo community at the time of dining on such public occasions. The females for the most part place a portion of the dinner aside for the sake of carrying it home for their absent children; even a rich woman feels no hesitation or humiliation in following the example of her less fortunate sisters. We can only account for this unseemly practice on the supposition that the Hindoo ladies do not like to partake of good things without sharing them with their beloved children at home. The wish is not an unnatural one but the practice most unquestionably is. In making provision for a grand feast, the Hindoos are obliged to treble the quantity of food for the number of guests invited, specially when it is a pucca jalpan, consisting of loochees and sundeshes (sweetmeats). If they invite 100 families they must provide for about 300 persons, for the reasons specified above. It is a pity that in a matter of public entertainment both males and females cannot resist the temptation of appropriating a portion of the food to other than the legitimate purpose. Here feminine modesty is violated by infringing the ordinary rules of etiquette.