January 23 2010

Rasek Ganda of Hindu descent and his wife, Margaret, are two progressive, business people, former city Cantabrians, who worked in Sydney and on the West Coast before purchasing an Ashburton business. Rasek shares his story with Velma Langdon.

Many of the Hindus who migrated to New Zealand have the Patel surname.

 Patel is a caste or tribe. Gandas belong to that caste.

 The Gandas were farmers in their homeland of India and of middle class.

 A family’s surname is the father’s first name.

 Rasek’ father decided his children, who were born in New Zealand, should have the New Zealand custom of the surname written or spoken after the first name.

 Rasek’s ancestry from the 1800s began in the small village of Matvad in the Navsri area, north-west of Mumbai. His great, great, great, grandfather, Bangia Gosia, like many of the village farmers, owned a sailing ship.

 The village strip near the Bangar (port) River was named Vahan (ship) Falia (street). There were always three or four large sailing vessels on the river at one time. They sailed to Bombay for cargo, then to China with the exports before returning home with imports.

 When Gosia’s son, Chibai Bangia, was older he sailed with his father on those trips. At a later date, because of smuggling, a customs officer was employed, and it was compulsory for all incoming goods to be declared, supposedly with little effect, as in time the deep, tributary river strip was filled in to a mere stream.

 Hindu villages were like self-sufficient small republics. Water wells have been in the same family for generations. The large farms in the village of Matvad, consisted of five to ten acres, where wheat, corn, mango trees and rice were grown. The smaller farms consisted of one or two acres. The villagers helped one another during the harvest. The threshing was done by beating the grain on a mat or board by hand with flailing sticks, a method still used in parts of India today. Much of the harvest was used for family consumption. The surplus grain was marketed.

 Chibba Bangia, lived in the family home built of solid brick, a tiled roof and like all homes, a mud floor. He owned a three brahman bullock team and cart, used for cartage and farm work as well as carting milk obtained from buffalo cows.

 In the early 1920s like many of his kinsmen, Chibba Bangia decided to leave the family to work in Fiji as a cane cutter. Money was sent back to India for the upkeep of the wives and families. Even though not one passenger on the ship could speak English they held British passports. India was a British Colony until 1947. In anticipation the men waited for the ship to take them to Fiji, but apparently (as the story goes) they boarded the wrong ship and were surprised to berth in Lyttleton.

 Chibba Bangia’s son, Ganda Chibba, immigrated to New Zealand in 1932 where he attended Christchurch East School. He and his father returned to India in 1939 when he married Dahi Motia Ramji in her nearby village of Bodali. Raman Ganda, father of Rasek, was born in his mother’s house, Gopi Japa, in Bodali, in 1940.

 Raman has a vivid memory of his early days, visiting the Matvad farm, watching the crops grow, the bullocks ploughing and being watered. He always went to the kodlru (milking) shed when his moti (grandmother) was milking the two buffalo cows, to drink a mug of warm milk, straight from one of the cows. There are also many memories of village gatherings and weddings.

 Because of World War II Chibba Bangia and Ganda Chibba were stranded in India. Ganda Chibba became involved with the movement of India Independence and was beaten to “an inch of his life”. His kidneys were badly injured. As a result he spent eight months in bed recuperating. He was able to return to Christchurch at the end of the war. He died in 1984, aged 62 years, because of his previous injuries.

 Raman and his brother Arvirid attended Matvad Primary school until 1949 when seven year old Raman and six year old Arvirid immigrated to New Zealand in the care of their Bapa (grandfather), Chibba Bangia. The boys left behind their mother, and two younger brothers, Ishwar and Thakor. On the same sailing many other villagers were also immigrating. During the journey the two brothers were “rascals on the boat”. They passed the time by running up and down the stairs, frequently waking a village baby for which they were reprimanded, and fighting other boys. The journey was from Bombay with stops in Sri Lanka, Singapore, Fremantle, Melbourne and Sydney. From Sydney the family travelled by T.E.A.L seaplane to Auckland, where they were met by the boys’ father, Ganda Chibba. They all travelled by train to Wellington, then by Inter Island ferry to Lyttleton. The family lived in Southwark Street, Central Christchurch.

 Because of the close proximity Raman and Arvirid attended St Joseph Primary School until standard three, followed by Marist Brothers. Raman, in a class of 45 boys, found his love for sport which he was involved with for 40 years. The brothers’ secondary schooling was at the local technical college. Back then racisim was alive and well in Christchurch - at primary school the boys were taunted with chants of: “Nigger, Nigger, pull a trigger. Bang, bang!”

 As Ramon and Arvirid could not understand English their father explained to them what the racist slang meant. When the pupils began taunting again Raman and his brother “belted them up”. The nuns strapped the offending pupils.

 After working in his uncle’s fruit and vegetable shop in Auckland for two years Raman returned to India for one year where he met his future wife, Urmila, from a nearby village. Urmila travelled by bus to attend DD Girls High School. When it rained the dirt road became so muddy the bus could not travel it, so Urmila walked the five miles to and from school.

 The 17 year old student was still at high school when 18 year old Raman met her. It was love at first sight. They married two months later in April 1960. The Brahmin (priest) who married the young couple was also responsible for the wedding photos which were a failure. No photos! The service lasted four hours with several days of celebration. About 1000 relatives and villagers attended, all seated. Food was supplied. When a marriage is arranged careful consideration is given comparing the two families, their backgrounds, likes and dislikes etc. One couple were married when six years old but did not live together until they were in their teens. Usually the couples are happy and the marriages last. There is no social welfare, no benefits in India. When the Ganda couple returned to New Zealand Urmila adapted well to her new life in Christchurch although she thought the country was very strange when she first arrived. They bought their first house and a dairy of which Raman was owner/manager until 1983 when he went into real estate.

 Their son Rasek was born in 1962. He and Margaret have two daughters, Letisha and Pheobe. Rasek’s sister, Amita, was born five years later. Amita teaches computers and maths at a Taupo secondary school. Like his father, Rasek is involved with hockey, playing since he was seven years old and like his father, plays premier grade.

 In 1954 Raman’s mother and his two younger brothers, Ishwar, who was a Christchurch city councillor for 23 years, and Thakor, a dairy owner, immigrated to New Zealand. Their grandmother, who was Chibba Bangia’s wife, stayed in India. March 15 1972 Raman and Urmila became British subjects and New Zealand citizens. Raman is now retired. He and two of his brothers, Arvirid (now deceased) and Ishwa QSO, are Justices of the Peace. Raman is also a marriage celebrant. He speaks Hindi, English, and Gujarati (the language spoken in Gujarat in Western India.)

 Rasek worked as a trained chef for eight years before he and Margaret were in partnership with an uncle in a Greymouth service station. After four years on the coast, in 2001, the couple had the opportunity of purchasing their own business in Ashburton, a move that proved very successful.

 Four years ago Rasek, Margaret and their two daughters visited the family farm in Matvad. The old home, even though derelict, was still standing. Rasek’s father and uncles now own the land and are deciding what the best option would be for the few acres. The old home will be demolished.

 Mark Twain wrote on his trip to India in the 19th Century: “... the land of dreams and romance, of fabulous wealth and fabulous poverty ... mother of history, grandmother of legend, great grandmother of tradition ...”

Pictured: The newlywed Raman, 18 years, and Urmila, 17 years of age.