University of British Columbia Press
Jewels of the Qila
The Remarkable Story of an Indo-Canadian Family
9780774822176
Distributed for University of British Columbia Press
Jewels of the Qila
The Remarkable Story of an Indo-Canadian Family
This is a story about a remarkable Sikh family and the communities they lived in and supported in both Canada and India. Kapoor Singh Siddoo arrived in British Columbia in 1912 and overcame racial prejudice and legal discrimination to transform himself from labourer to lumber baron. He and his wife, Besant Kaur, fostered in their daughters a vision of service and activism that they fulfilled by establishing a hospital in Punjab and introducing an Indian spiritual tradition to their new home in Canada. Hugh Johnston tells their story with warmth and perceptiveness, while telling a larger tale about the trials and tribulations faced by immigrant communities in Canada.
336 pages | © 2011
Table of Contents
Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
1 Pioneers
2 Jagirdar Families
3 Emigrant Jathas
4 Settling in Canada
5 Trouble in British Columbia
6 Refuge in Ontario
7 Lumber Business
8 Women and Children at Mayo Siding
9 Village Life in Canada and India
10 Ending a Partnership: Life in the City
11 Citizens without Votes
12 A Real United Nations in Practice
13 Lessons about India and Spirituality
14 The Hospital at Aur
15 Finding a Teacher and Losing a Father
16 Marriages and Losing a Mother
17 Canada and India
18 The Span of a Century
Notes
Index