Well-known in the community for bringing spice to previously unseasoned palates, the Singhs of Little Hut Curry are celebrating their first Canada Day as new citizens.
Arriving in 2007 by way of Kashmir, Singapore and Saskatchewan the Singhs’ journey to Powell River began not on a ferry, but with Mohinder’s decision to find a comfortable place for his family, wife Janmeet Kaur and daughter Asees, now 15, to live.
Working full-tilt as an engineer in Singapore, Mohinder said he was looking for a place with an easier pace of life.
“Singapore is a great place, you can live there, you can work there, but it’s not a place you can retire,” he said. “You have to stay on your toes because the cost of living is very high.” When speaking, he laughed, suggesting Texada Island might be a little bigger than the populous city state.
But after making the move to Canada and landing in Windsor, Ontario, Mohinder soon found himself separated from his family and nearly up to his neck in snow in rural Saskatchewan.
“The winter was pretty interesting,” he said. “I was driving vehicles on those icy roads and I had no experience of driving a vehicle like that so I would skid all over.”
Soon realizing he could do the work remotely, Mohinder told his boss of his plans to relocate.
“I told him it might be difficult for my family to move there, they are not used to weather like that,” he said.
Travelling to BC, the Singhs were soon taken in by Powell River’s charms after choosing to stay for a few days.
“We happened to be here during the Blackberry Festival so we enjoyed that,” said Mohinder. “It was like love at first sight.
“We were very well received by the community. We met people for the first time and they were very, very friendly. That made all the difference.”
To Janmeet Kaur, the attraction was the slower pace of life on the Sunshine Coast.
“We had seen the big city like Singapore, so we didn’t want to live in Vancouver,” she said. “Even in Nanaimo it was so busy. Here everybody says hi to you which is so nice.”
Plus, according to Mohinder, Powell River had the added benefit of being alluringly similar to the Singhs’ Kashmir home, a region in India known for its temperate climate and clear blue lakes.
Now working together as owners and operators of Little Hut Curry, Janmeet and Mohinder have found a new home, making hand ground spice blends and curries.
“There are many people who had never tried a curry before we came and now they are regulars,” said Mohinder. “That’s how we became part of the community.”
But liking Powell River, making a life here and becoming Canadians were not all one and the same. Before becoming Canadians both Mohinder and Janmeet first had to pass the citizenship test.
“I think it’s quite fair,” said Mohinder. “If you decide to take on the citizenship of a country, you’d better know some facts about that country.” He said many of his restaurant’s customers, themselves Canadian citizens, did not know the answers to some of the questions on the citizenship test. “Some of them are tricky questions, like which is the easternmost province?”
The Singhs became citizens together, Tuesday, June 9. They travelled to Nanaimo for an oath taking ceremony, during which the presiding citizenship judge, Robert Watt, underscored the duties and responsibilities of citizenship—ideals which Mohinder said he has taken to heart.
“The first thing [Watt] said is, ‘Once you become a Canadian citizen it becomes like a coin. One side is your rights and the other side is your responsibilities and they are all connected together,’” said Mohinder.
“As a Canadian you also have to be a part of the community, you cannot just keep yourself in a shell. Open up, meet people, see if they need help. That’s how we were received here when we came to Canada.”
The Singhs will be donning red to join the rest of Powell River to celebrate Canada’s birthday in Larry Gouthro Park.
“We are going to head to the park and go and celebrate with everybody,” said Mohinder. “We won’t be selling food, we will just go and socialize.”
Powell River’s Canada Day celebrations will be held in from noon on Wednesday, July 1, in Larry Gouthro Park. Food and performers, such as Lotus and the Wildflower and the Spirit Singers, will be provided throughout the afternoon. There will be a large slip and slide, watermelon eating contest, a giant birthday cake and a dress in red contest.
The Singh’s are planning to celebrate their new citizenship and history by going to Canada Day celebrations in red traditional Sikh clothing—Mohinder in a red turban and Janmeet in a red kurta, a long collarless shirt.
“That’s what we realized about Canada,” said Mohinder. “It’s a beautiful mosaic, not like a melting pot, like where you come and lose your cultural identity. This is one great thing about Canada. You automatically keep your identity and people love you for that.”
But regardless of where they came from, for the Singhs home now means Powell River.
“When we leave Powell River now, we want to come back,” said Mohinder. “I am not used to that kind of traffic now, that kind of hustle and bustle. It’s good to go back [to Kashmir] and meet friends and family, but then you want to come back to Powell River.”
