Chand, Nirakshik

Creator: Thandi, Ossi Kaur

Creator: Chand, Nirakshik

Ossi Kaur was born in Fraser Mills, BC. Ossi's grandfather came to Canada at the turn of century. He and Ossi's father worked at the mills and lived in a company house on site. When Ossi's family went to India, her father remarried. She and her brother did not return to Canada and stayed back in India. In 1925, she married Sucha Singh after getting a letter from his uncle, Sunder Singh Thandi, asking her to help him immigrate to Canada. While on the boat to Canada, she was pregnant with her first child. The couple settled in Abbotsford, and although she found living in Abbotsford lonely, she grew accustomed to it. She used to work on the family farm, while Sunder's daughters and Harry Singh's daughter used to visit her frequently. This is a full-length interview conducted on July 15, 1996 by Nirakshik Chand at Mrs. Ossi's residence in Abbotsford.

Creator: Thandi, Sunder

Creator: Thandi, Sucha Singh

Creator: Chand, Nirakshik

Interview with Sucha Singh Thandi in which he describes his uncle, Sunder Singh Thandi. Sunder singh Thandi migrated to Canada 1906-1907, He was in his thirties when he decided to move from Punjab, India. He was a farmer and was involved in agricultural sector. He wanted to explore more places, as that time many people were moving to different countries, therefore, he decided to visit Canada with the intentions of returning back to his home country. This interview was recorded on June 14th, 1996.

Creator: Thandi, Sunder

Creator: Thandi, Sucha Singh

Creator: Chand, Nirakshik

Interview with Sucha Singh Thandi describing his uncle, Sunder Singh Thandi. Sunder Singh came to Canada in 1906. In India, he used to buy animals and sell them. He came to Canada for a trip, with a plan to work, make some money, and return home. He got on the boat from Calcutta, and when he arrived, he worked hard and resided in barns or bunkhouses. He was close to the friends he met on the ship because none of them knew English. He moved to Abbotsford and worked at Mill Lake before purchasing a farm of 60 acres. In 1947, he was married and together he and his wife took care of their two foster daughters. During war times, Sucha Singh went to play a central role in the Heritage Sikh temple. He also donated the steel Nishan Sahib. He died in 1953 of throat cancer at the age of 90. This interview was conducted on June 22, 1996 at Abbotsford.

Creator: Thandi, Sucha Singh

Creator: Chand, Nirakshik

Sucha Singh Thandi was 19 years old when he came to Canada. His uncle wanted him to come to Canada to help him with the farm and get more education. Sucha Singh was married before coming to Canada, and it was arranged to marry a woman who had been born in Canada. When the young couple reached Hong Kong, they went to a temple and stayed there for 2 days before travelling to California and taking a train to Canada. He started to work on his uncle's farm before he passed away, but continued to live with his aunt until she passed away. He then started to drive a truck delivering sawdust to farms. This is a full-length interview recorded on June 22, 1996.

Creator: Ratzlaff, Ben

Creator: Chand, Nirakshik

Interview with Ben Ratzlaff about his work with Sunder Singh's dairy farm. Ben and his family moved to British Columbia because of the promising future. He started to work at Sunder Singh's dairy farm where he and his family were given a place to live. He held high opinions of Sunder Singh. Ben knew about farming since he was raised on a farm. Ben describes how he got to know many of the South Asian works, and often invited some for tea and snacks. He also describes how he had once helped a man by the name of Jassa Singh, to hide from the government by sending him to Saskatchewan. Ben quit his job with Sunder Singh in the late 1940s. This interview was conducted by Nirakshik Chand on August 26, 1996.

Creator: Power, Gurdial Singh

Creator: Chand, Nirakshik

Interview with Gurdial Singh Power. Before coming to Canada, Mr. Gurdial Singh Powar had a central government job. All of his brothers came to Canada after he settled down. He came to Canada for a better life, but he misses his job in India. Gurdial Singh describes how he was very comfortable with reading, writing, and talking in English. When he first arrive, he started by working as a helper in the garage. After he got his work permit, he started working in the garage full-time. When he went to the immigration office for an interview, he was asked questions related to the mechanical line after he told them what he was doing in Canada for a living. His paperwork was passed quickly. This is a full length interview conducted on June 10, 1996 by Nirakshik Chand.

Creator: Gill, Sewa Singh

Creator: Chand, Nirakshik

Interview with Sewa Singh about his move to Canada as well as his father's story of working in Canada in the early 1900s. Sewa Singh spent his childhood tutoring and helping out at school, as well as working on his 15-acre family farm. His father came to Canada in 1906, to work on the railroad, while sending money frequently to his family in India. After losing his job, he went to the United States and worked as a farm labourer and lived in a barn. He returned to India to attend to his family in 1932. He returned to Canada in 1935. When he came back, Sewa Singh was with him. Sewa Singh and his father stayed in San Francisco for two months before they finally reached Canada. Sewa Singh found a job as a janitor in a sawmill in North Vancouver. Both of them lived in the bunkhouses with 12 others and one cook. Sewa then got another job at the mill and a raise of 5 cents. Sewa Singh always kept short hair and was clean shaven. Sewa married a Canadian woman and settled down. This is a full-length interview recorded on June 27, 1996 conducted by Nirakshik Chand in Abbotsford, BC.

Creator: Gill, Najar

Creator: Chand, Nirakshik

Mr. Najar Singh Gill was thirty years old when he moved to Canada in 1963 from Punjab. He was a farmer in India and also the first member of his family to come to Canada. Mr. Najar's wife was a Canadian citizen and she sponsored him. He then moved to Canada with his daughter who was only one and a half years old at that time. Further, Mr. Gill knew several friends and acquaintances in Canada who were from the same village, all of whom helped him to start his new life. He first started to work in Mission in a mill and then came to Abbotsford.This is a full-length interview recorded on June 4, 1996, conducted by Nirakshik Chand at Mr. Fateh Chand's residence in Abbotsford.

Creator: Gill, Nash

Creator: Chand, Nirakshik

Interview with Nash Gill about his life growing up in Canada. Nash Gill's family immigrated in 1949. Nash's father, Indar Singh Gill, was already a Canadian resident therefore, Nash got his citizenship directly. Gill was only one and a half years old when he moved from Punjab to Canada with his mother. He grew up in Mission and his family used to visit the gurdwara in Abbotsford weekly. He was one of the few South Asian Canadians in his school. In high school, during graduation, he was the only South Asian Canadian in his class. He spent his summers berry picking. Nash Gill describes how during the Great Depression, his father started working for Kapoor Lumber, and later on, he built his own mill, calling it Fraser Valley Sawmill. This is a full-length interview recorded on August 30th, 1996 conducted by Nirakshik Chand at Mr. Gill's law office in Abbotsford.

Creator: Gill, Dalip Singh

Creator: Chand, Nirakshik

Interview with Dalip Singh Gill. Dalip Singh moved to Canada in 1982 to attend his nephew's wedding. He traveled around Canada and noticed that there were no independent schools that had been founded by a South Asian Canadian. He found that South Asian Canadian children did not have the opportunity to know about their culture, which led him to start his school that combined both the BC curriculum plus heritage/culture and language courses. He wanted to create a school that had a purpose of providing quality education with South Asian cultural elements included. In 1983, Dalip Singh was invited to a meeting regarding the possibility of having a school as part of their new temple. After the meeting, he found a great deal of people supported his idea. That day he started to contact the parents that were interested in putting their kids in school. On the first day of school, there were 80 students. Khalsa Diwan decided to form a separate committee for the school which led to the establishment of Dasmesh Punjabi school. He prematurely retired from the training teacher's school in India. In 1986 they introduced the tuition fee. In 1996, they had two buildings for the school. This interview was recorded at Dasmesh Punjabi School by Nirakshik Chand.