BHANI MAKAN

 

Bhaniben was born in 1906 to Ratanbhai and Rewaben Gopal, in the village of Viraval in Navsari, Gujarat. She had two brothers, Channabhai and Gopalbhai. After the passing of her father, her mother remarried. My Ma (grandmother) had four more brothers, Bhudiabhai, Sukhabhai, Parsotbhai, Babubhai and two sisters, Nandiben and Gangaben. Like most other girls of her generation, Ma didn’t receive any formal education. 

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My Dada (grandfather) Makan Daya emigrated from India in 1919. His journey took him by ship from Mumbai on to Madras, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Fiji. In Fiji, he was required to work on farms growing tobacco and watermelons for around two years. When the immigration laws changed, allowing Indians to enter New Zealand, Dada took hold of the opportunity. He was fortunate to have met an English gentleman who taught him to read and write a little bit of English. This proved to be vital; I am told that because he could sign his name in English he was able to come to New Zealand. He arrived in New Zealand on the SS Makura on 8 September 1922. 

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My Dada started out digging drains in and around Paeroa, living and sleeping pretty rough in a corrugated shed. During 1926 and 1927 Dada travelled back to India to get married. He married Bhaniben in 1928. My eldest Foi (aunt), Somiben, was born in 1931 but Dada returned soon after to New Zealand, to continue cropping some leased land on Tuakau Road, Pukekohe. He again returned to India in 1938, just prior to World War II. Their second daughter, Maniben, was born in 1939 and then, once again, he came back to New Zealand in 1940, in the midst of the war. This left Ma on her own back in India, with their two young girls. 

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After setting himself up by purchasing a property on Kitchener Road, Pukekohe, in 1943, Dada left for India again when the war ended in 1945. Both sons Dheru Kaka and Naran (my dad) were born soon after in 1946 and 1947 respectively, and the family packed up to depart for a new life in New Zealand. Somiben, who was by then married, remained in India. 

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The family arrived at their new Kiwi home in October 1948. It was a quaint little wooden farm cottage, with only one bedroom, a lounge, a small kitchen with a coal range for cooking and a long-drop toilet outside. Adjusting to a different lifestyle was one thing my Ma took in her stride. Challenging as it was, she was determined to learn the new way of doing things! She was grateful to Sarah, a very caring Maori lady, who lived on the family farm and helped Ma get to grips with these new housekeeping methods. Clothes were washed in the copper—a large cylinder bowl set in a concrete form with a small fire pit below to heat the water. A wooden washboard was used to scrub really dirty clothes. Floors were washed by getting on your hands and knees with a scrubbing brush! 

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Ma was quite the disciplinarian and very strict. Everyone had their chores and jobs to do. The children had to feed the family’s chickens and sweep the floors every morning and night. Then after school it was time to bring the wood in for the fire, to warm up the water for everyone’s baths at the end of the day. 

All the farm work was done by manual labour. Draught horses were used for field work too. The workers would dig the potatoes by fork and Ma and the children would pick the potatoes and pack them into boxes. Onions were grown as seedlings and then transplanted by hand, row upon row! 

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Cooking with limited Indian spices and vegetables was another hurdle to overcome, and learning to make do with what you had was a skill on its own. Moong beans and lentils were purchased from Chinese traders and Indian spices were purchased by postal order from Wellington where the quantities were rationed because of the limited supply from India. Lamb was rare but the times a whole lamb was bought, the entire animal was made use of—head to toe. My Dada, having worked as a chef at the Wairakei Hotel near Taupo, really was a barbecue master—so lamb cooked over hot charcoal embers, on barbecue skewers made of shaved barberry hedge branches, was a treat enjoyed by visiting family and friends or on Christmas Day. 

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Ma helped Dada work the land as well as doing all the chores around the house, feeding the family and raising her children. Ma also cared and cooked for my Dada’s two cousins, Mangabhai and Somabhai, who helped on the farm. Ma was a fantastic cook; one of her specialties was making pickles and because mangoes, the usual type of pickle, weren’t so common in the shops, she used chillies, carrots and even plums. As Ma could not speak or understand English, she required an interpreter for any medical, shopping and personal needs. She faced both language barriers and cultural differences.

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Visiting and hosting friends and family was a big part of our culture. These were great times to catch up and share experiences and enjoy a feast of curried lamb or chicken (straight from the backyard!). Dada and Parbhu dada were the first cooks to cater at Indian weddings around the North Island. Dada was certainly a good cook, and as people began celebrating weddings, Dada and his neighbour over the road, Parbhu Dada, were asked to cater the food. Their reputation grew and they were invited to cater weddings all over the North Island. Ma was also very popular at weddings as she was quite a good singer and had a cheeky sense of humour, bringing much laughter to the festivities. And because Ma and Dada were very well respected in the Indian community they were asked on numerous occasions for their advice on prospective marriage proposals by the families concerned. 

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My youngest Foi, Bhanuben, was born in 1952. With the older children now attending Puni School, Ma continued to work hard on the farm. In 1962 Dada purchased a large holding in Tuakau and because this property had a great main road location, they set up a fruit and vegetable stall. Ma was the driving force behind this venture. She manned the stall with great success, even though she had limited communication and language skills with her customers. This vegetable stall was a huge source of pride to my Ma. The following year they were granted consent to build a shop. 

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Sadly, in this same year, Ma suffered a major stroke. The right-hand side of her body was left totally paralysed and she also lost her speech. Dada and the children rallied to care for Ma and take on the household duties, as well as managing the shop and market gardens. 

In the following years as the family grew, with marriages and the arrival of grandchildren, Ma was very limited in her mobility, but she was happiest with all her grandchildren around her. I remember her really enjoying listening to Indian music, having late afternoon snacks with a small drink on a Friday afternoon. We all encouraged her to try to speak and get some exercise with her trusty walking stick. 

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Ma passed away on 12 June 1980. I feel quite sad that I never got to know and learn from her in her healthier years, but I know we communicated in our own way, whether through signals or sounds. Her legacy of family loyalty, determination, work ethic and strength of character as a pioneering Indian woman remain with us all to this day. And now with our own families and children, I hope that we are making her proud. 

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By Pravena — an honoured and proud granddaughter

 

Special thanks must go to Mani Foi, Dheru Kaka, Bhanu Foi and my dad Naran for their insight and recollections and memories of days gone by. 

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