In her memoir Porridge and I, Dr Roopali Sircar Gaur captures the delicate beauty and inner confusion of growing up in newly independent India. Seen through the eyes of a young girl, the story unravels in a society still shaped by colonial residues. From the Anglo-Indian nanny’s mispronunciation of an Indian name—giving rise to the nickname “Porridge”—to the narrator’s desire for rosy cheeks like her white nanny’s, the memoir brings forth the subtle ways colonial ideals persisted in everyday life.
Porridge and I: Growing Up with India by Roopali Sircar Gaur captures the social and cultural transformations of a newly independent nation through the daily experiences of two sisters in an army household. Set in the early years after 1947, the book traces their movement across various Indian towns, revealing a country grappling with the remnants of colonial influence while forging a new identity.
The nickname “Porridge,” born from the Anglo-Indian nanny’s mispronunciation of an Indian name, becomes a quiet but powerful symbol of colonial hangovers—reflected in language, customs, and ideas of beauty. The children’s lives unfold among a cast of diverse characters, subtly illustrating the complexities of class, race, and cultural aspiration in a society in flux.
One of the memoir’s most captivating qualities is its unwaveringly youthful tone. As noted by reviewer Sneh Goel, the narrative retains the unfiltered honesty and simplicity of a child’s worldview. There is no adult reinterpretation—only the spontaneous reflections of a young girl trying to make sense of her surroundings. This lends the story both charm and authenticity, allowing readers to experience post-independence India through the lens of a child—where curiosity, confusion, and wonder intermingle with the subtle realisations of a nation shaking off its colonial past.
The narrator’s admiration for her white nanny Miss Doris—her aspiration to gain rosy-red cheeks by eating porridge and beetroot soup—reflects a child’s internalisation of colonial ideals. However, by the memoir’s end, a sense of pride in her Indian identity emerges, subtly yet powerfully, echoing the nation’s own journey towards self-assertion.
Gaur’s account touches on key themes such as colourism, and the tension between inherited colonial values and indigenous selfhood. The narrative doesn’t rely on historical exposition but offers a lived-in portrait of the era—where humour, nature, and human relationships mirror broader national shifts.
Though steeped in historical context, Porridge and I is a memoir that transcends generations. Its themes—childhood innocence, identity, belonging, change—are universal. For readers of biography and autobiography, the memoir offers both literary richness and historical insight. For casual readers, it promises warmth, wit, and a nostalgic return to the textures of a different time.
Porridge and I: Growing Up with India stands out as a significant contribution to postcolonial literature and the memoir genre. It tells a personal story with national resonance, capturing the bittersweet beauty of growing up in a country redefining itself. Dr Roopali Sircar Gaur’s debut novel is, indeed, a labour of love—a testimony to memory, sisterhood, and the journey from mimicry to selfhood. With this work, she invites readers not only to revisit the past but to understand it anew through the eyes of a child who saw it all happen.
More than a personal story, Porridge and I is a cultural reflection of India in transition, offering insight into the ordinary yet symbolic ways in which identity, memory, and belonging are shaped during times of change.
Dr Roopali Sircar Gaur, a retired Professor of English from Delhi University’s Sri Venkateswara College, is also a social activist and founder of YUVATI, an NGO for youth empowerment. She runs Mera Kitab Ghar, a community library for underserved children. Porridge and I is her debut novel, published by Authorspress.
