Sulchi Rupal

"Happiness is having a strong family"

I was born in India in Punjab. When I was a youngster all I knew was that I had a mother and a sister. I never knew my father. He was hardly ever around, as he was here in England. I lived with my family in our native village with my grandparents and uncles and aunts. In a situation like that I never got to know who my father was; all I knew was that this was my family. I can say that until I actually came here I didn't know that I had a father. At the age of seven my grandmother passed away, and we were asked to join my father and brother here in England. They had been here since 1963. We then emigrated here in 1967 - my mother and sister and me. After a year or so my father bought our first house on Westbourne Road in Queen's Park. I remember he purchased it for what would now seem like a ridiculous price of £2800. In those days you could get a mortgage from the council and you would make a payment at the town hall.

(Interview by Pam Greenaway, Munawar Hussain and Jay MacLeod)

If the sound clip does not play automatically, click here.