Danny,
"He said that it was not uncommon to hear: "I wish the British would come back !" This was not out of politeness to a former Sahib (an Anglo-Indian born there, he was as brown as they were, and Hindi would have been his mother tongue). It was sincere."
I spent a few years in the Merchant Navy in the late '60's, early 70's. About 50% of the company ships were Indian crew. This started during WW2 when crews were in short supply, and it carried on into the late 70's.
I heard the same many times from some of the older crew members. I remember in particular one old fireman/greaser who used to say quite often, "British Raj good"
I always got on well with most of them, but I wish I'd tried harder to learn more Hindi. I picked up a few words, most of which I've forgot in the last 40 years.
Jim (One time Battysahib)