Individual results

Interviewee: Dr Sneh Paul
Interviewer: Stacey Bains

Names spelt phonetically

Track 1
Born 28 Feb1934 in Kudh in Kashmir, but is a Punjabi. Grandfather worked there so born there. Two sisters, one died in 1969. Very close. Phone her often. In India. Older. Mother died when 2 years old. Looked after her. Father lives with her. Mother 26-27 years old when died of Hepatitis. Pre Partition father was English teacher in Lahore. Moved to Amritsar. Became engineer. Mother highly educated for time. Wrote stories and poems. Published. Bought up in Gurdharspur. Finds things she wrote and embroidered. Died too young.

*music in background.

Track 2
Grandfather was civil surgeon. Thaseildar highest you could go under British rule. Educated. Not a lot of money. Lived with Nani (grandma) and Nana ji (grandfather). Had property, land. Retired well off. Lots of houses. Lived in some. Land in village. Visited gardens. Grandmothers parents The Mohants. Well off. Related to official in Maharaja Patiala. Didn't pay much attention. She was ordinary middle class. Town as Gurdharspur a district. Small. Pretty. Orchards. In Punjab but on high plane.

Track 3
Grew cherries. Played in orchards and cornfields. Lovely childhood. Started school at 5 years old. Loved it. Straight to class 3. Learnt at home. Pre partition. Girls High School. Sisters there. Very clever. Middle sister broke all records. She was ordinary. Went to medical college. Walked to school. 1 mile. Liked Arts. Tradition in family to go to medical college so chose sciences. Mother and grandma died. Raised by father and servants so not pampered with toys. Read a lot. Friends. Lived in Mohalars in Punjab. Colonies of like minded people. One big family.

Track 4
Grew up together. Sisters went to college. Read a lot. Still does. Anything. Grandfather Persian scholar. Read astronomy and Persian poetry. Star gazed. Learnt to play chess. Male things. Made own cloth dolls before grandma died. Reading. Matriculation from same school. Partition when 12-13 years old. Sisters went to college. Alone with grandfather. Went to Pre Medical Mursharpur FSE at 16 years old. In medical school at 17 years old. Partition big problems. Gurdharspur only 8 miles from border. She didn't see anything. Suddenly no servants. Did not understand.

Track 5
Had to wash own clothes and cook. Went to Upi. Wanted to move back. Wasted 6 months. Obstinate. Both moved back. Almost missed a year. Passed exams. Missed friends, roots, Punjab education system. Moved with family to Upi for safety. Lived with aunt. Eldest sister stayed with her. Other sister went to Delhi University. Wanted to go back. Matriculation in Gurdharspur. Pre med in Mursharpur. Amritsar Medical College when 17 years old. Father upset didn't pursue Arts. Enrolled while he was in Bombay. Phoned college.

Track 6
Fifth out of 120. So let her stay. She believed she had to do medicine. Never discussed it. Changed to sciences. Set on being a doctor. Higher education important to father. Unspoken rule. Family highly educated. Eldest sister professor of chemistry. Second sister virologist. Died after complications in operation. Amritsar only medical college in Punjab. Lived in Boarding school. Lovely. Ran riot. Still good friends.

Track 7
Meet annually. Some in England and India. University fun. Involved in everything. Drama, Arts, Music. Suggested she wouldn't pass. Sports. Took plays to Shimlar. Inter collegiate festivals in Delhi. Father very liberal. Important women educated. Liberal family. Small family. Goes to India 1-2 times a year. Nephews wedding were together. Great time.

Track 8
Not many big family occasions as small family. Few cousins. Content. Unbelievable relationship with sister. Phone daily. Husband died. One son. Married and went to Malaysia. Would visit family as holiday. Visited dad in Amritsar during holidays. Father alone. Making money to keep them. Likes Punjab life. Care free. Thought people more open. Punjabi's different. Upi not a nice place.

Track 9
Qualified in 1957 as doctor. 2 years house job/internship in Patiala. 1 year at Primary Health Care/ Centre in Samralar. Visited villages. Checked drains etc. Not qualified for it. Wanted to study more. Went to Luknow medical college for surgery. Disliked Upi. Taught anatomy at Kashmir medical college. Best way to do surgery. Friend from Amritsar proposed. From Malaysia. Moved there in 1962. Didn't think they'd get married. Didn't think she would get married.

Track 10
Friends before. He read a lot. Couldn't hold hands then. Just friends. Visited her in Kashmir. Living with sister. Brother-in-law told her to marry him. Thought it was a good idea. Family happy. He was a Sikh. She's a Brahmin. Didn't matter as sister married a Muslim. Father said get high-heeled shoes he's very tall. Caste and religion doesn't matter to her. Immediate family not religious. Never forced to be religious. Not for her. Brahmin families tend to be religious.

Track 11
Didn't eat meat until 27 years old. In Kashmir eat meat as only other choice Dhal. Not religious but cultural. Father vegetarian, never smoke or drank. Had two sons. 1 ½ years apart. Husband came to England for fellowship in surgery. She decided to study here. Came in 1972. Fellowship in Anesthetics. Sons came here. Political problems in Malaysia. Bought here for education. Various jobs. Became consultant in 1980. Boys here so wouldn't move. Happy to move to Malaysia. Wasn't Punjab. Big cultural difference. First few years difficult. Got used to it once working.

Track 12
Very good friends. Lots of Punjabis, South Indians etc. Still friends. Loved the food. Variety. Open people. Mixture of races. Chinese very nice. Heat, mosquitoes, insects the worst thing. Not too hot in India. Children are Indian because look it but don't behave like it. Indian by blood and race not outlook. Bought up in Malaysia and England. Went to boarding school. More westernised. Live in Australia so Australian. Can't speak Indian. Embarrassed at friend's house.

Track 13
Not forced her children to believe anything. Own choice. Moved to London. Chainey Walk Girls Hostel. Royal College of London. Dreary. Winter. Dark. Damp. Unfriendly. Once working got better. Attachment in Newmarket. After a week decided she was good enough. Got her a job in Bury St Edmonds as junior registrar. Worked around Cambridge until passed fellowship in 1976. Arrived January 1972.

Track 14
Children arrived September 1973. Intended to return. Once children here knew she'd stay. Boarding school practical solution. Spent days at hospital. Could not leave them alone at night. Happy now. Used to moan about boarding school. Some Asian friends at school. Received well here. Medical profession very good to her. Newmarket consultant got her a job. Sent her on a visit. Met by man looked like a decorator. Not many Asians there. Asked if Director sent him. He was the director. Showed her round. Gave her a lift back.

Track 15
Sent van for her. Lovely time. Gave her a bigger flat when heard about the boys. Part 1 of fellowship in Bury. Moved to Ipswich until received fellowship in 1976. After fellowship Senior Registrar need 4 years training to become consultant. Worked in Cambridge and Peterborough. Sent to Great Ormond Street and Alder Hay and Royal Stanmore. Told to apply for job in Coventry. Didn't want to move here. Come down. Applied and got job in 1979. Aneasthetist. Heard about Coventry. No one went there.

Track 16
Sons unhappy. Enjoyed it. Still likes it here. Husband went to Australia. Decided they would move. She didn't. Separated. Boys visited him and decided to move there. Hasn't decided where she wants to live. Retired last year. Might stay here. Coventry was dismal, awful. Didn't have a house. Given hospital house. No heating, carpet etc. Job was great. Sister in law here. Helped her. Bought current home in May 1980. Would stay in Coventry. Once become a consultant its permanent.

Track 17
Elder son stayed at boarding school. Younger son went to Henry VIII. Loved her job. Made good friends. Not gregarious but not lonely. Likes to read. Has a lot of friends but does not go out a lot. Friends for life. Coventry OK. Not that much art and culture. Suits her as doesn't go out often. Goes to Uni to see plays. Can go to Stratford. Retiring was great. Should have done it earlier. Enrolled in college. French, Fine Arts, Computers. Book club. Meets friends. Internet course. In societies. Union of Third Age ? (University of the Third Age)

Track 18
Talks, lectures. Fine Arts club NADFAST ? (NADFAS). Lectures on Arts. Study days. Busy. Friends relatives. Reads. Phones friends. Reads. Computer. Internet in evenings. Daytime types. Liked light fiction now more serious. Biographies, Travel, Astronomy. Looks up Astronomy on computer. Due to childhood. Paints. Embroidery. Crochet. Beginner at painting. Did a course. Likes watercolors. Will do more in summer.

Track 19
Likes The Simpsons, Robot Wars, Nature programs, The Bill. Never watched a soap. Would not be able to answer question on soaps on Who wants to be a millionaire. For other people to judge her life. Quite happy. Wish she had more relatives. Wish sister hadn't died. Wish hadn't separated from husband. Wish she had daughter. Can't have everything. Content. Given a choice when younger. Very independent. Can only blame herself. Doesn't do everything she wants to. No one can. Sons very independent. Only insisted they were educated. Repeated Tony Blair's, "Education, Education, Education". Didn't want to go to college. Rebelled. Wanted to be airline pilot. Told him he needed education. Done well. Eldest accountant for Ministry of Finance in Australia. Canberra. Lives with girlfriend. Youngest in Sydney. Navy.

Track 20
Looks after computers. Did microbiology and changed mind. Girlfriend. Content. Father in Canberra. Don't know what will happen in the future. If moves will be dependent on others. Will need to make new friends. Difficult. Lived longest here. More British than Indian now. Very Indian in outlook. More Indian than most Indians as reads a lot about it. Reads about religion. Likes to make informed decisions. Indian because born one. Likes Indian food. Culturally very Indian. Religion does not make you Indian. Socially meets Indian friends eg. at Diwali. Would never kill anyone.

Track 21
Can pick and chose what you want to do. Used to smoke. 10 years ago gave up. Drank. Doesn't a lot now. Eats meat. Will eat beef if she wants to. Nothing you can't do because you're Indian. Not bigoted or fanatical. Nothing you can do about being Indian. Going back to India not practical. What will she do? Not many connections there. Bloody-minded. Independent. Told to give up courses and go to temple now retired. Her religion is what she does. Could be her job or reading.

Track 22
Job great. Enjoyed it. Some hardships. Strange country with young kids. Remembers getting fellowship. Theory paper then Viva. Competitive exam. Out of 50, 11 passed. Only women and only Asian. Lucky boys had school trip. Was able to study. Picked them up from station. They were tired she was elated. Not always easy. A lot older than other students as worked in Malaysia for 10 years.

Coventry Lives Oral History Project, date of birth: 28/02/1934