Date of Birth:
1945
Birthplace:
Village Sirhayala, District Hoshiarpur, Punjab
Current City:
Golden, BC

Resham Kaur KhunKhun was born in 1945 in village Sirhayala, District Hoshiarpur, Punjab, India and immigrated to Canada in 1972. Her husband, who lived in Golden, BC, filed for her residency. She travelled to Canada with their three young children. After landing in Vancouver, she took a flight from Vancouver to Calgary and was then received by her husband, whom she had not seen for two years, before they all drove to Golden. Resham remembers that when she first saw Golden, there was a lot of snow.

The KhunKhun family lived in a rented small room. Resham says it was a difficult life in the initial years, but it became comfortable after some time. In the 1970’s, there was one Punjabi grocery store in Golden and there were a few in Calgary and Vancouver. There were no Punjabi clothing stores in Golden Either. Resham remembers that people would travel to Vancouver or Calgary. During this time period, there was no Gurudwara in Golden and all the weddings and prayers would take place in a large log house that the community would rent. The Guru Granth Sahib Ji (Sikh scriptures) were brought from Vancouver for religious processions. The community would also rent the church hall during weekends to watch Indian movies, which would be rented by the Dhami family.

Resham did not work in her first few years in Canada as she had the responsibility of caring for her children. However, Resham then worked for 17 years as a housekeeper at a motel in Golden. Resham believes that life is hard in Canada, but if you work hard, then you will never sleep with an empty stomach in this country. She lives in Golden and travels to India every year.