After the Partition: Mohinder Kaur Kang’s Story

Mohinder Kaur Kang, born in Jalandhar East Punjab, arrived in England in the early 1960’s once her husband Harjit Singh Kang had already settled and secured a job as a post man in Barking. After two years of being apart, Mohinder Kaur was eager and excited to start a new life in a country where the houses appeared larger, and money easier to come by.

Unfortunately, like many Punjabi women who would not have been able to speak or understand English, Mohinder describes how she scarcely interacted with other British ladies and found difficulty in navigating her life outside the house. She recalls how men in her family would regularly come together to either celebrate or socialise. At the request of her brother, she would spend a lot of time preparing Punjabi meals, pakoras, samosas and rotis for him and his many friends. For women like Mohinder Kaur, the access to new facilities like gas cookers and newly opening grocery shops for international groceries especially in Ilford, meant that she was able to prepare meals just like the ones in Punjab, but more efficiently than before.

Although Mohinder found the cultural and language barrier troubling, this did not deter her from using her free time to earn money from home, where she utilised her seamstress skills. For 20 years, Mohinder Kaur worked her sewing machine, taking orders from local men and women to make jackets, hats and ladies purses and dresses. Income was often little, as she would charge 2⅟₂ shillings for a jacket. However sometimes, she describes, she could earn up to £10 a week in 1970, around £100 in today’s money. With these small amounts of disposable income, Mohinder Kaur was able to support her husband, as they built their lives together in East End. She currently lives with her retired husband, Harjit Singh Kang in Barking where they have been living for 60 years.