{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/qb9v11x118/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Malhotra, Shakuntala"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/252/original/HPL_ArchiveBannerCDM2.jpg?1738348845","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Publisher"]},"value":{"en":["Foundation for Indian Studies"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://rightsstatements.org/page/CNE/1.0/?language=en\"\u003eCopyright Not Evaluated \u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePermission to publish or reproduce must be obtained from the Foundation for India Studies, Houston, Texas.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source"]},"value":{"en":["Houston Public Library Special Collections"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Malhotra, Shakuntala (interviewee)","Malhotra, Jawahar (interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2014-06-05 (created)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["eng (primary)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["Shakuntala Malhotra interviewed about culture, family, and educational background, as well as migration, contributions to the community, and work experiences."]}},{"label":{"en":["Format"]},"value":{"en":["digital recording, sound"]}},{"label":{"en":["Subject"]},"value":{"en":["Houston (Tex.) (geographic term)","Oral histories (topical term)","Immigrants (topical term)","Emigration and immigration (topical term)","Family life (topical term)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Keyword"]},"value":{"en":["indoamerican"]}},{"label":{"en":["Type"]},"value":{"en":["Moving Image"]}}],"summary":{"en":["Shakuntala Malhotra interviewed about culture, family, and educational background, as well as migration, contributions to the community, and work experiences."]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://rightsstatements.org/page/CNE/1.0/?language=en\"\u003eCopyright Not Evaluated \u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePermission to publish or reproduce must be obtained from the Foundation for India Studies, Houston, Texas.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["Houston Public Library"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["Houston Public Library"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/252/original/HPL_ArchiveBannerCDM2.jpg?1738348845","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/210/348/small/open-uri20231027-1243258-vwdnyb_1698432737.jpg?1698418337","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108903/file/210348","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - FIS-OH0025.mp4"]},"duration":1917.12,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/210/348/small/open-uri20231027-1243258-vwdnyb_1698432737.jpg?1698418337","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108903/file/210348/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108903/file/210348/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-houstonlibrary.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/210/348/original/FIS-OH0025.mp4?1698418333","type":"Video","format":"video/mp4","duration":1917.12,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108903/file/210348","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108903/file/210348/transcript/60422","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Transcript [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108903/file/210348/transcript/60422/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":")\nJM: Let me ask about that, you came to New Delhi in 1947 but you were originally born in a part of India that is now Pakistan. So that was the partition of India and you were born in pre-portioned India. Where were you born?\n\nSM: I born in Punjab, Lahore, Mughalpura, I born there and after that my father settled in Lyallpur and our childhood was in Lyallpur. I remember that part and that part has gone to Pakistan. Now we belong to Delhi but we belong to Punjab. Our part is Lyallpur and our all property and everything is in Jhang.\nJM: So Jhang and Lyallpur were closed to each other but they were near the Jhelum River, was it?\nSM: Yeah.\n\nJM: The Jhelum River and did you have properties over there?\n\nSM: Yes, our all property is in Lahore, things were gone to that part in Jhang and we left everything there. So now we settled in Delhi.\n\nJM: So tell me about the time that you were growing up in Lyallpur and Jhang. Your family was settled there for many years before.\n\nSM: After Lahore, I born in Lahore, then my father shifted to Lyallpur and I born in Lahore but I didn’t see anything, I didn’t see Lahore, I remember only Lyallpur and Jhang.\n\nJM: So you went to school in Lyallpur?\nSM: Yes, I have gone to school in Lyallpur and I got married in Lyallpur. After marriage, my husband was in Delhi, he brought me there and we lived there.\nJM: So Lyallpur by the way is the old name for the city that is now called Faisalabad.\n\nSM: Yes, I heard that now Lyallpur is the name of Faisalabad, everybody say Faisalabad, but I still say Lyallpur, because I remember everything, every moment in Lyallpur.\n\nJM: So now tell us about the time that you came to India when Pakistan was created, how did you leave Lyallpur, did you leave everything behind?\n\nSM: Everything, because nobody wanted to leave the house and belonging because they say nothing really happened, we will come again, we will not leave this place because for few days it will be disturbance after that we will again come. That’s why we brought all our families and our relatives here and we thought they will go after a few months they would go back, but it never happened, because my grandfather never wanted to leave the house, he said nothing will happen, we will be here because the rulers change, the population never change, but it happens the cruelty I have seen and so many things and nobody went back.\n\nJM: So when the partition was announced, at that time you were still in Delhi or were you in Pakistan?\n\nSM: In Delhi.\n\nJM: So some of your family was still in Pakistan.\n\nSM: Yes -- no, mostly all the families left the belongings, left the houses and came, maybe in a few days we’ll come back. \n\nJM: But you told me I remember that you had to go back to get some things.\n\n(","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108903/file/210348#t=299.0,600.0"},{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108903/file/210348/transcript/60422/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":")\nSM: Yes, because we brought our all relatives here and then after, the date was 15 August of --\n\nJM: 1947.\n\nSM: But we reached there in Lyallpur. My husband and me, we went to Lyallpur to bring some valuables and belongings, but my husband never thought that it was a very bad time, we went there. When we reached there, my grandfather was very angry, why you came to bring the belongings, but it was the time we couldn’t do anything, but my grandfather never knows, he said all the ladies and children we have to send back to Delhi and my brother was in Delhi and my husband was there, they both brought our families to Delhi.\nJM: But you left Pakistan on a train. Tell us about that trip?\nSM: Because that situation was very bad. In Lahore station we have seen all these Afghans and everything, they are taking all girls, young girls and every, they are doing murder and then we were very afraid of that thing why we came here but after a few days, maybe four or five days we stayed there.\nJM: At the station?\n\nSM: On the station. We both wanted to catch the train but for three days there was no train. When the train comes that was so rush that my cousin threw me in the window in the train.\n\nJM: Through the window into the train?\n\nSM: Yeah, through the window, but after that we didn’t see anything, if God helps me, we’d reach Delhi.\n\nJM: So in Delhi, you were, many people living in one apartment?\n\nSM: That was the situation like that my husband said any relative will come and stay with us, he didn’t want to make them on the road side and even he didn’t want to see the refugees. He said you are not refugees, you will stay with us. Gradually, they are going, when few days passed, they had gone to search the work because nobody had money, nobody had clothes, that only. I remember our grandfather, all the ladies are two dresses on maybe you can stay wherever -- men can stay without any so much clothes, but for the ladies you have to stay -- you can’t stay without.\nJM: So how many people were living in that with you?\n\nSM: At that time I had an apartment in Delhi, two-room apartment and our relatives maybe 30 or 35 were staying there, sitting on the floor or sleeping on the floor, no clothing. The winter came, the rainy season came, we don’t have clothes, warm clothes and blanket, that was a very bad time we have seen.\n\nJM: So you had to make clothes?\n\nSM: Because at that time my husband was the head of the family and four brothers, two sisters, me, my grandmother, mother, this is our family, we were 12 people, and the other relatives aunt and uncles and cousins all first came to Delhi, after that they went to search for the work. My husband didn’t allow anybody to sit on the roadside.\n\n(","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108903/file/210348#t=600.0,901.0"},{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108903/file/210348/transcript/60422/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":")\nJM: Yeah, okay. So after this happened, how did you find people who came, were there announcements made on the radio to tell you, to find your people.\n\nSM: Because we didn’t know our relatives, where were they, maybe one of my uncle, we didn’t know for six months where he is, and always we announced on the radio station that where are you, searching for the relatives and when I went to Lyallpur my father and everybody-- my father was in a post office, postmaster, but after 15th August, they didn’t allow to go into the post office and he was alone there. He came in a camp and my father-in-law died in","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108903/file/210348#t=901.0,975.0"},{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108903/file/210348/transcript/60422/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"camp because we didn’t know where he is, that was the situation, very bad.\nJM: So you lost a lot of relatives in the partition?\nSM: Yes, in partition because everybody was in a camp and when they crossed the border they reached Amritsar and my brother and my uncle Ram went to search our family, where are they, they found them in a Firozpur camp. That year, the rainy season was so bad that they are sitting in a border and nothing clothing, nothing reaching to these all camp people for giving the food to them.\n\nJM: So after this happened, your husband moved to another position in another government position in another ministry?\nSM: Because before that he was in Information and Broadcasting department, but at the partition time he thought the government is changing and maybe they will not keep our job, he resigned and he started the business but he didn’t make a good business, and after 8 years he again joined the Government of India, because at that time everybody thought the government is changing, maybe they don’t keep us, that was the situation, very bad at that time. Again after 8 years, in 1952 he again joined the government job maybe All India Radio.\n\nJM: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.\n\nSM: Yes.\n\nJM: And then what happened, he went to overseas?\n\nSM: Yes, in this job, then he gave this External Affair Ministries, he joined that --\n\nJM: So the Foreign Ministry.\n\nSM: Foreign Ministry. He gave the exam, he passed and first posting he did in Saigon.\nJM: Indo-China.\nSM: Indo-China, Saigon there, he gave the exam and passed in and then he came, but then our first posting was in Lahore. We were crying at that time --\n\nJM: You didn’t want to go to Lahore.\n\nSM: We didn’t want to go to that place and this is not a foreign place for us.\n\nJM: So he chose, he decided to not to go there and he got another posting?\n(","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108903/file/210348#t=975.0,1194.0"},{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108903/file/210348/transcript/60422/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":")\nSM: Yes, after that we posted to England, London, but you know that we have a very big family, so much of responsibilities. In our house nobody wanted to see that we are away because all the people are studying, all the brothers and sisters’ marriage that we have to do and other relatives. At that time nobody was living like today, the joint families, and everybody depends on that.\n\nJM: So you said that your husband was posted and your family went to London.\n\nSM: Yeah.\n\nJM: And then what happened, then they stayed in London for a few years, and then where?\n\nSM: Yeah, but you know still we want our house, our property, all these things we left there, we miss that respect and we always remember. After London, at first posting we went to London, then after London we were posted to Pakistan.\nJM: To Karachi.\n\nSM: Karachi, but at that time also we wanted to see our place --\n\nJM: Where you were born, where you grew up.\n\nSM: You were born and where is our all the property and everything.\n\nJM: But you couldn’t go.\n\nSM: But we couldn’t go because that time was different, now it was no relationship like that.\n\nJM: So after Karachi, then where did you go?\n\nSM: After Karachi, we went to Iran.\n\nJM: To Tehran.\nSM: And like that we went all over the world.\n\nJM: So you stayed in Tehran and you enjoyed being in Iran at that time.\n\nSM: At that time Iran was a very good posting and we stayed four years and we enjoyed that posting.\n\nJM: So after Iran you went to Switzerland and Romania.\n\nSM: Yes, after Iran, we went to Switzerland and Switzerland is a very good place but for us this is the problem of the children education, that’s why we sent my son Jawahar to Houston because my brother was in Houston. He studied here and now he is doing the same, they are all very wealthy here.\nJM: So you went -- from Switzerland you went to Romania, Bucharest, Romania and there you actually had to go through an earthquake in Romania.\n\nSM: Yes, from Switzerland -- no, from Switzerland we went to India. Two years we spent in India and my elder son got married at that time, we wanted the headquarter posting that --\n\nJM: And then you went to Romania.\n\nSM: After two years in Delhi, in 1972 maybe I went to Romania and we stayed four years in Romania.\n\nJM: So in Romania you lived through an earthquake.\n\nSM: Yes, in Romania, there maybe four years we stayed.\n\nJM: There was an earthquake.\n\nSM: Yes, at that time, Romania was a good posting but sometimes that is communist country that time. We had a difficult time and the earthquake was very bad and we were there, at that time, we suffered all the people helped us.\n(","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108903/file/210348#t=1194.0,1502.0"},{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108903/file/210348/transcript/60422/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":")\nJM: So after Romania, you went back to India?\nSM: Yes, 1978, my husband retired and we went to Delhi in our house in Rajouri Garden and we stayed there.\nJM: He retired and but he still went back to Afghanistan?\nSM: Yeah, sometimes he went to Kabul for some meeting or some conference, he stayed three months there. At that time Kabul was very good that we had seen, but in Delhi also had so many problems because all the relatives are there and everything was not like that but now it’s improving very much and we have an apartment there and when we go there, we live in our apartment.\n\nJM: So you were there and you lived in your house and then you sold your house and you moved into this apartment.\n\nSM: Yes, I couldn’t stay. My sons never allow me to live there alone because they are worried always I am alone, that’s why they brought me here and I lived there.\n\nJM: So you came here after your husband died.\n\nSM: Yes.\n\nJM: In 2003.\n\nSM: Yeah. 2003, he died and from that day – two years I come and go and come, but now I am continuously living here.\n\nJM: So now you have been here in Houston for 9-10 years and you have become very involved in this community, but you have become very popular because you also are writing recipes.\n\nSM: Yes, because Jawahar is always asking me, keeping me busy, because sometimes I bore and he encouraged me and I am writing the recipes and I do all the time something to do knitting or cooking everything I do. Sometimes my health does not permit me to do but still I go everywhere with Jawahar and I meet everybody and I write the recipes, the people like it, thank you for the people they encouraged me and they like --\nJM: So when you write the recipes, these are Punjabi vegetarian recipes that published in the local newspaper.\n\nSM: Yes, we are Punjabis from beginning to -- we always cook Punjabi food and we like it and that’s why I know only Punjabi food, I don’t know the others, there are some things of other community food, we like it but only I know cooking Punjabis.\n\nJM: So many people stop you when they meet you and tell you that they enjoy your recipes, so how does that make you feel?\n\nSM: Yes, I feel very good at that time because they encourage me, because some people like it and it’s very nice and thank you for all the people that they like my things and I do knitting if they will see that I hope they come and I teach them cooking and knitting.\nJM: So you have come a long way before Pakistan was created through the partition of India and now here in America, so that’s a long journey. Are you now happy over here in America?\n\n(","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108903/file/210348#t=1502.0,1803.0"},{"id":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108903/file/210348/transcript/60422/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":")\nSM: Yes, at this moment, in this age, I like that everything is very comfortable here, but sometimes I feel that not like India, there is any meeting otherwise I like it very good.\nJM: But you go to India every year?\nSM: Yes, I go because now I can go maybe after few years maybe traveling to very far city, very long journey, but you know that Jawahar always, everyday take me there and I am happy that I go and see our own country.\nJM: So thank you so much for doing this lovely interview and it is really a privilege for me to be interviewing my own mother in this particular Oral History Project, which is going to be seen by future generations and when they do see this, perhaps they will be able to piece together the history of our community here and how some people living in the advanced years were able to come and make the transition from the old country to the new country. Thank you so much!\nSM: Thank you and thank you everybody.\n\nJM: And thank you everybody for taking part and viewing us many years down the road.\n\nTotal Duration: 32 Minutes","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://houstonlibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2436/collection_resources/108903/file/210348#t=1803.0,1917.12"}]}]}]}