OH/292/1
Reference code
OH/292/1
Level of description
Item
Title
Bhambi, Mehnga Ram
Date
1/11/2013-10/03/2014
Scope and content
"CD
Interview by Kirsten Forrester-Paton
Mr Bhambi was born in a small village in the Usharpur district of Punjab on 20 June 1922. The narrative describes his life in India until he arrived in England. He had had a good education to college but not degree level and he had good English, shorthand and typing. Much of his working life in India had been in the army.\First days in England: He arrived in England on 3rd February 1964. He had a letter of introduction written by a relative already living in England, whom he had never met. When he arrived at Heathrow, feeling like a village idiot, the relative was not there to meet him. He hailed a taxi, asking the driver to take him to (Hanwell?) Road, Southall, where he was to stay. The driver said his fare would be£3, which Mr Bhambi didn't have - he had only been allowed to take a total of£3 out of India when he left due to Indian exchange controls, and had spent some during the journey. The taxi driver was prepared to take him for£2-50 (sic), but he said he didn't have that much either. However, a fellow Indian who had been on his plane said he needed to take a taxi to an address near Southall, and suggested they share the taxi. In this way, they were both able to afford the fare. But Mr Bhambi later learnt that the going rate between Heathrow and Hanwell at that time was 10 shillings. - the taxi driver had taken advantage of their ignorance. When he arrived at his destination, he knocked on the door, but there was no answer. He saw a Punjabi woman in the garden next door, and spoke to her. About two hours later, someone came to the house. He was a lodger there, and let Mr Bhambi in. There were ten or twelve people living in the house. Despite these initial experiences, he was excited about being in England.\First job in England: After a couple of days, someone from next door helped him to get a job at the (Western?) Bakery. He worked different shifts there, either 6.00pm to 6.00am or 6.00am to 6.00pm. His job was to take the tins, from which the newly-baked bread had been removed, to where they would be used again to bake more bred. The tins were red-hot from the oven, and though he was given gloves to wear, he got burnt a number of times. He disliked the job. His colleagues were all Asian, and few of them knew any English. His shift manager, a white Englishman, was so pleased when he heard Mr Bhambi talking English because he had someone he could talk to, particularly during the night shift. Mr Bhambi asked this man if he could help him to find some casual work, and he said he'd try. Once, this man picked him up for work at the house where he was staying in (Hanwell?) Road. For his first two night shifts of 12 hours each, he received a total of £4.\Mr Bhambi was helped in these early days by the fact that his relative didn't charge him anything for rent and food for the first month he was in England - this was the custom in those days. He also gave Mr Bhambi £5.\Getting a job as a postman: He started looking at job advertisements in the local papers - he was determined to find an alternative to factory work. He applied for a job as a postman. He went to Southall Post Office, which then was very near to where he was living. When he entered the yard at the back, an Indian postman, a Sikh, said to him \Who allowed you to come onto these premises?\"" and kicked him out. He felt both astonished and angry. Just then an Englishman came to the back door. Mr Bhambi said to him \""Sir can you help me? I'm looking for a job as a postman\"". The Englishman took him through the back door to the counter clerks saying that they would help him. Someone was called from upstairs, and he was given a test, which he passed and an interview. He was also required to complete a form on which he had to give details of his employment history for the previous ten years. A copy iof this form was sent to his former employers in the Indian Army and took about two months to come back. Finally he received a letter from the Post Office in April 1964 saying that he could start work as a postman on 3rd May. Until then he did a few odd jobs.\A room of his own: His relative got him a room in the house of the Punjabi woman next door and he moved in on 1st March 1964. It was just a box room but it was his own and he had his own television. He paid her fifteen shillings a week. After a while she started asking him to do her favours such as writing letters for her.\Career in the Post Office: He enjoyed his work as a postman and stayed in the job for a year and ten months. But his ambition was to become a Postal Officer - he worked for this period of time as a postman until his postman job was confirmed only because this was a necessary first step to achieving this aim. As soon as he was able.
Oral History
Open
Catalogued
01/11/2013
HCH
13d09893-8028-4fb0-8743-0305461377ab
HCH
25/10/2013
Calmarchiving
10/03/2014"
Interview by Kirsten Forrester-Paton
Mr Bhambi was born in a small village in the Usharpur district of Punjab on 20 June 1922. The narrative describes his life in India until he arrived in England. He had had a good education to college but not degree level and he had good English, shorthand and typing. Much of his working life in India had been in the army.\First days in England: He arrived in England on 3rd February 1964. He had a letter of introduction written by a relative already living in England, whom he had never met. When he arrived at Heathrow, feeling like a village idiot, the relative was not there to meet him. He hailed a taxi, asking the driver to take him to (Hanwell?) Road, Southall, where he was to stay. The driver said his fare would be£3, which Mr Bhambi didn't have - he had only been allowed to take a total of£3 out of India when he left due to Indian exchange controls, and had spent some during the journey. The taxi driver was prepared to take him for£2-50 (sic), but he said he didn't have that much either. However, a fellow Indian who had been on his plane said he needed to take a taxi to an address near Southall, and suggested they share the taxi. In this way, they were both able to afford the fare. But Mr Bhambi later learnt that the going rate between Heathrow and Hanwell at that time was 10 shillings. - the taxi driver had taken advantage of their ignorance. When he arrived at his destination, he knocked on the door, but there was no answer. He saw a Punjabi woman in the garden next door, and spoke to her. About two hours later, someone came to the house. He was a lodger there, and let Mr Bhambi in. There were ten or twelve people living in the house. Despite these initial experiences, he was excited about being in England.\First job in England: After a couple of days, someone from next door helped him to get a job at the (Western?) Bakery. He worked different shifts there, either 6.00pm to 6.00am or 6.00am to 6.00pm. His job was to take the tins, from which the newly-baked bread had been removed, to where they would be used again to bake more bred. The tins were red-hot from the oven, and though he was given gloves to wear, he got burnt a number of times. He disliked the job. His colleagues were all Asian, and few of them knew any English. His shift manager, a white Englishman, was so pleased when he heard Mr Bhambi talking English because he had someone he could talk to, particularly during the night shift. Mr Bhambi asked this man if he could help him to find some casual work, and he said he'd try. Once, this man picked him up for work at the house where he was staying in (Hanwell?) Road. For his first two night shifts of 12 hours each, he received a total of £4.\Mr Bhambi was helped in these early days by the fact that his relative didn't charge him anything for rent and food for the first month he was in England - this was the custom in those days. He also gave Mr Bhambi £5.\Getting a job as a postman: He started looking at job advertisements in the local papers - he was determined to find an alternative to factory work. He applied for a job as a postman. He went to Southall Post Office, which then was very near to where he was living. When he entered the yard at the back, an Indian postman, a Sikh, said to him \Who allowed you to come onto these premises?\"" and kicked him out. He felt both astonished and angry. Just then an Englishman came to the back door. Mr Bhambi said to him \""Sir can you help me? I'm looking for a job as a postman\"". The Englishman took him through the back door to the counter clerks saying that they would help him. Someone was called from upstairs, and he was given a test, which he passed and an interview. He was also required to complete a form on which he had to give details of his employment history for the previous ten years. A copy iof this form was sent to his former employers in the Indian Army and took about two months to come back. Finally he received a letter from the Post Office in April 1964 saying that he could start work as a postman on 3rd May. Until then he did a few odd jobs.\A room of his own: His relative got him a room in the house of the Punjabi woman next door and he moved in on 1st March 1964. It was just a box room but it was his own and he had his own television. He paid her fifteen shillings a week. After a while she started asking him to do her favours such as writing letters for her.\Career in the Post Office: He enjoyed his work as a postman and stayed in the job for a year and ten months. But his ambition was to become a Postal Officer - he worked for this period of time as a postman until his postman job was confirmed only because this was a necessary first step to achieving this aim. As soon as he was able.
Oral History
Open
Catalogued
01/11/2013
HCH
13d09893-8028-4fb0-8743-0305461377ab
HCH
25/10/2013
Calmarchiving
10/03/2014"
