Jasbir Sandher

Jasbir Kaur Sandher was born on August 2, 1946 in the village Tameli, in Jalandar, Punjab, India. Her aunt first came to Canada in 1923 and after that, her older brother came in 1959 and her younger brother came in 1961. Jasbir’s younger brother sponsored her, her husband and her son to Canada. From Punjab she went to Delhi on a train and from there they went to Tokyo and then reached Canada. At the airport, Jasbir’s aunt, her son and both of Jasbir`s brothers came to pick her up. Jasbir and her family lived with her aunt for three months. She then lived with her younger brother for one month in Abbotsford. In 1971, she moved to Donald. Jasbir, her family and her husband’s cousin, Tarseen Kaur, lived in one house for eight or nine months. Unfortunately, one day her house caught on fire and her arm was severely burned which resulted in Jasbir being unable to see her children for one month. Soon after that her husband got sick so they lived with her aunt for three more months.

When Jasbir immigrated to Canada, there were only seven Indian families living in Donald. Even though everyone lived in Donald very lovingly, Jasbir still missed India. There were no gurdwaras and no one had televisions yet. There was only one phone line that everyone used and no one celebrated Indian festivals or holidays either because no one knew when they were. For weddings the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji (Sikh scriptures) was brought in from Duncan and the dishes required to make the food would come from Kamloops. The weddings were conducted in Logan Hall by a Sikh priest who was brought in from Calgary. Before the gurdwara was made, everyone used to go there (Logan Hall) and sing religious hymns and pray. After ten years of living in Canada, Jasbir went back to India to visit family.