“I was born in India in farming country. I lived in a small village in Punjab. There were 8 children, 6 girls and 2 boys in my family. We walked to school to another village.
My father worked and my mother looked after us. We came home and my mother always had the tea made.
One day I came home from school. I was 12 and my mother said to me that a lady had come to see me about getting engaged to be married. My mother said the lady has come from Australia with two sons and they are looking for the good girls from our village. I was not even 13. They were Indian but had been in Australia for a long time. One of the boys, Jimmy could speak Indian but was Australian born and his brother was Indian born.
Jimmy’s mother took him and his brother from Australia to India for a holiday. When she arrived she arranged for my sister to marry her son. My father said, ‘Why not both your sons marry my two daughters then they will be together.’ Jimmy was only 16 and still at school but they talked him into it. He didn’t like to say no as his mother was boss. We got engaged in the September and we were married in India in the November. I was 13 and he was 16. We had an Indian wedding. Jimmy was Indian but had never seen India before. He did what he was told.
After the wedding they all went back to Australia and I stayed home. You were not allowed too leave India until you were 18. I stayed 2 years until I was 15 and my father changed the date on my birth certificate in the courthouse to say I was born in 1940 instead of 1943. In India you can do anything. My sister had also changed the date and she went first. We were both underage and they had changed both our births to 1940. They were saying, how are you two girls born in 1940 and you are not twins?
When we first married in India I used to sleep with Jimmy’s mother because she knew that if I had a baby I would be too young at 13. She said you sleep with me. Her daughter who was a year younger slept on the other side. I was quite happy with that.
I came over to Australia on my own, I was scared and I didn’t know these people I was coming to other than for the 6 months we saw each other 2 years before. Jimmy gave me the name Helen as he said that was a good Australian name. My real name is Raj-Rani.
We moved to Banyabba near Grafton because Jimmy was working on the railway and he got the railway house. Our house had no electricity One day we got on the train near Whiporie and the conductor said…You kids wagging school? Who’s baby you have there? We had our first child Cathy in a pram. I said, no we are married. We used to catch the train into Casino to shop. We would buy 25 kg bags of flour and the rest and bring it all back on the train. There was no shop or electricity in Banyabba. Our railway house cost a dollar a week rent. No washing machine, we had a copper and 3 kids nappies. That’s all I did as there was nothing else there. We stayed in Banyabba for 5 years then we shifted to Casino. We bought a house next to the railway where we stayed for 3 or 4 years then another house in the same street where we stayed for 18 years.
I had Cathy at 17, 18 months later I had Cheryl, 13 months after I had Julie. Three years later I had Christine and then I had Dennis. Two years later we had Tracey and then lastly we had Narelle. We lost one after Christine who was a blue baby. In those day they couldn’t save them. When Cathy was little I lost another when I was 7 months pregnant. We had a drunk man called Percy who lived close by. I didn’t like drunk man and I was scared of him. I was by myself in the house with little Cathy and I had the door open. I jumped out the window because I thought he was in the house and we lost the baby.
We bought a little corner shop because I wanted to do something. I wanted to work and I couldn’t speak English very well but I needed to do something. We called it Dhnaram Drive-by Store. We had a petrol bowser out the front and the best fish and chips in town. The kids would come home from school and help. We had the shop for 6 years.
Jimmy was mad about the pubs. He loved pubs and he wanted to buy a pub. His brother had a pub in Newcastle and Jimmy dreamed of having one of his own. His brother said, You should have married and Australian if you want to have a pub.’ He said, ‘She doesn’t like pub business at all’ because I never drank and never really dealt with the public. Jimmy said, ‘Oh you would be surprised at what she can do.’ We heard The Winsome was for sale so we sold the shop in 1979 and left on the Sunday and we were in the Winsome on the Monday opening at 10am. I’d never even set foot in a pub and here we were with a pub.”
My father worked and my mother looked after us. We came home and my mother always had the tea made.
One day I came home from school. I was 12 and my mother said to me that a lady had come to see me about getting engaged to be married. My mother said the lady has come from Australia with two sons and they are looking for the good girls from our village. I was not even 13. They were Indian but had been in Australia for a long time. One of the boys, Jimmy could speak Indian but was Australian born and his brother was Indian born.
Jimmy’s mother took him and his brother from Australia to India for a holiday. When she arrived she arranged for my sister to marry her son. My father said, ‘Why not both your sons marry my two daughters then they will be together.’ Jimmy was only 16 and still at school but they talked him into it. He didn’t like to say no as his mother was boss. We got engaged in the September and we were married in India in the November. I was 13 and he was 16. We had an Indian wedding. Jimmy was Indian but had never seen India before. He did what he was told.
After the wedding they all went back to Australia and I stayed home. You were not allowed too leave India until you were 18. I stayed 2 years until I was 15 and my father changed the date on my birth certificate in the courthouse to say I was born in 1940 instead of 1943. In India you can do anything. My sister had also changed the date and she went first. We were both underage and they had changed both our births to 1940. They were saying, how are you two girls born in 1940 and you are not twins?
When we first married in India I used to sleep with Jimmy’s mother because she knew that if I had a baby I would be too young at 13. She said you sleep with me. Her daughter who was a year younger slept on the other side. I was quite happy with that.
I came over to Australia on my own, I was scared and I didn’t know these people I was coming to other than for the 6 months we saw each other 2 years before. Jimmy gave me the name Helen as he said that was a good Australian name. My real name is Raj-Rani.
We moved to Banyabba near Grafton because Jimmy was working on the railway and he got the railway house. Our house had no electricity One day we got on the train near Whiporie and the conductor said…You kids wagging school? Who’s baby you have there? We had our first child Cathy in a pram. I said, no we are married. We used to catch the train into Casino to shop. We would buy 25 kg bags of flour and the rest and bring it all back on the train. There was no shop or electricity in Banyabba. Our railway house cost a dollar a week rent. No washing machine, we had a copper and 3 kids nappies. That’s all I did as there was nothing else there. We stayed in Banyabba for 5 years then we shifted to Casino. We bought a house next to the railway where we stayed for 3 or 4 years then another house in the same street where we stayed for 18 years.
I had Cathy at 17, 18 months later I had Cheryl, 13 months after I had Julie. Three years later I had Christine and then I had Dennis. Two years later we had Tracey and then lastly we had Narelle. We lost one after Christine who was a blue baby. In those day they couldn’t save them. When Cathy was little I lost another when I was 7 months pregnant. We had a drunk man called Percy who lived close by. I didn’t like drunk man and I was scared of him. I was by myself in the house with little Cathy and I had the door open. I jumped out the window because I thought he was in the house and we lost the baby.
We bought a little corner shop because I wanted to do something. I wanted to work and I couldn’t speak English very well but I needed to do something. We called it Dhnaram Drive-by Store. We had a petrol bowser out the front and the best fish and chips in town. The kids would come home from school and help. We had the shop for 6 years.
Jimmy was mad about the pubs. He loved pubs and he wanted to buy a pub. His brother had a pub in Newcastle and Jimmy dreamed of having one of his own. His brother said, You should have married and Australian if you want to have a pub.’ He said, ‘She doesn’t like pub business at all’ because I never drank and never really dealt with the public. Jimmy said, ‘Oh you would be surprised at what she can do.’ We heard The Winsome was for sale so we sold the shop in 1979 and left on the Sunday and we were in the Winsome on the Monday opening at 10am. I’d never even set foot in a pub and here we were with a pub.”