OH/304

OH/304

Item

Bindra, T S

Discrimination in Asia 1953\Kenya 1961-6\Changes in UK residence area 1966-98\South Asain Archive\1 Tape\1 CD of images\India:\. He was born in Sarga in India in 1933\. His father was a Major in the army and was posted there\. He was the only member of the family who was in the army and he worked in many areas\. In 1947 when the partition of India occurred, his father was posted in Delhi and they lived in a village which is now in Pakistan\. When he was about 13 years old they were attacked in the village by more than 10,000 people who were armed with sticks, spears or any weapons that they could find\. They realised it would be impossible to live ther so they moved to Delhi, where he joined a school\Tanganika:\. He moved here in 1951. His sister asked if he wanted to move there - she had lived there long before that. He had finished his studies and there were no such prospects in India at that time with that knowledge\. This country was ruled by the British. Asian, European and British people lived there but the poputlation was predominantly African\. Asians mainly did clerical jobs and most of the menial work was done by Africans, so there was a distinction between the races\. The community was mixed, yet it was segregated; there were separate institutions for Asians, Africans and Europeans\. His first job was a clerical job\. In 1953 he became an Assistant Station master and by 1958 he was promoted to Station Master\. He went to a training school for these positions - a six month course for the Assistant Station Master and 6-8 week Station Master course\. He was posted at many different stations, including a Station Master job in Kenya in 1961, and his best job which was a Booking Clerk from 1963-66\. Post 1966, when the independence of Kenya occurred and with it, Africanisation, he was made to retire. This was in April 1966. It was at this point he decided to move to the UK\r\nEngland:\. He arrived in the UK in April 1966 and lived in Hounslow, where he has been based since\. He was unemployed for 1-2 months, then worked as a Store Assistant for a few months\. In November 1966 he joined the Civil Service as a temporary Clerical Officer, working at the National Savings Bank. In those days it was difficult for Asians to get clerical jobs and he experienced discrimination. He stayed in the Civil Service until he retired in 1998\. In March 1967 he bought a house. Until then he had lived in rented accommodation\. In 1977 he and four others helped to establish a place of worship in Hounslow. They had a temporary place at first and then bought 2 huts at a later stage using community donations\. He was asked to be on the committee and be a trustee, but declined both offers. He helped as much as he could in other ways\. He now visits retirement centres 3-4 times a week\. He would never move back to Africa\. He visits relatives in India and feels that England is his home