A journey from Partition to England
This is a story of life in Pakistan during Partition and fleeing to India as a refugee.
Personal Details
Name: Gurmej
Date of birth: September 1942
Place of Birth: Village in Pakistan but came to India
Arrival Date in the UK :1969
Migration Story
What did you or your family do in your original country. e.g. student, professional, farmer, etc. ?
I was born in Pakistan in a small village, this was before partition, I don’t know the name of the village or the area as it was long ago.
At the age of about five, partition was starting, so I remember the troubles starting. When trouble or violence started erupting, we had to run to the roof on our house. This started happening frequently, so we had to move to another area.
In the new area there were a lot of Muslim families who said they could not protect us, so it was still very dangerous. We had to be careful as there was lots of trouble, there was also poison in food, oranges, fruits, so we were told not to eat fruit or food outside.
My Grandfather was with a group of men who were attacked and shot, he was the only survivor, so he came back and said we had to leave as it had become too dangerous.
The trains were being attacked, so my Grandfather at great expense hired a truck with guards which was fitted with a machine gun, it was for all of our family and some cousins. I remember we had to hide all of our money and valuables in our shoes and we couldn’t take much with us. We then travelled by Truck to Punjab.
The government settled us with other refugees in a small village in Punjab call Tardwara, we lived there for some time.
There was a very large flood in the area so we had to move again, the Government housed many families from the flood in a small farming village Khartpula in Punjab where our whole family eventually lived.
In India I was a housewife and mother so was busy looking after my Children. We lived in Delhi as my husband worked for the Government in Office Administration
Eventually he went to England in 1963 so we left Delhi and went back to my village.
Why did you or your family come to the UK ?
I came with my children to join my husband who had left for England in 1963 and to join my younger son who came to England in 1966. My Younger son had gone to England sooner as to leave before he was eleven years old due to new immigration rules.
Describe your journey to the UK and method of travel e.g. boat plane etc. ?
We all came on a plane from Delhi to London Airport, it was a difficult journey with young children as everything was new to me, but it was a nice journey and they gave us nice food on the plane.
The day you arrived. Describe the first day, arriving, the experience, first thoughts?
I arrived with my two sons and daughter, I was met and collected by my cousin who took me to my new house that my husband had purchased before.
The first thing I did was cried so much as I had not seen my son (now thirteen) in three years, I had missed him so much and was so happy to see him.
I was then very busy settling in, I had to learn how to use the Gas, get the hot water on, cook and other jobs so I was busy.
Where did you go on the first day, e.g. family, friend, hotel, etc.?
I was in my new house with my family.
First few weeks – what did you do?
I was just busy all the time, cooking, cleaning, looking after the children, I was on my own so it was hard work.
First few weeks – what did you miss the most?
I missed my family in India a lot, my brothers, father, mother and other relations.
First job or settling what did you do where did you live?
I was a housewife for many years, but eventually I got a part time job when my youngest son was at Nursery. I then had many jobs it was hard work and then I had the home jobs, but my family helped with jobs.
First year what do you remember?
It was busy all the time, house chores, working hard, cooking looking after children. It was difficult getting some foods, they were delivered from a shop in Southall by van, you had to order things in advance. But I remeber working hard and being busy all of the time. I had to make all food and ingredients, blending spices, foods, making yoghurt, I was always busy.