Kneesocks 2018-19

Stories Ships Tell: Home is Ma’s Spices By Emilia Emmrich 6L

Preface

In the early 1900s, India was plagued by frequent famines and immense poverty. This was due to the ruthless reign of the British over India and extremely heavy taxation from British-backed landlords. On the other side of the world, Canada was heavily advertising jobs in lumber and railway work and fruit growing on the west coast. These are only some of the factors prompted over 2 000 Indians to travel across the vast Pacific Ocean to start a new life in Canada. The first of these immigrants arrived between 1904 and 1908. They were mainly Sikh Punjabi men and teenage boys setting out to find employment and bring over their families. Unfortunately, once arriving in Canada, they didn’t receive the treatment they had hoped for. Indian workers were forced to live together in tiny, crammed, dismal shacks and were paid far less than their white co-workers. All Asians were considered dangerous and in need of containing. Hateful feelings towards Asians prompted mass unemployment among Indians in 1907 and caused the passing of a law in that took away Indian- Canadians’ right to vote in that same year. This law was only removed forty years later. Injustice towards Indian-Canadians lasted for decades, but that hasn’t stopped them from making their mark on Canada.

Portrait #1

October 15, 1906

The towering shadow of a gigantic ship shields my face from the powerful sun. Dozens of sweaty bodies crowd around me and the buzz of voices makes me feel as if I am in a beehive. I never saw many crowds in my village, even though it wasn’t too far away from the bustling city of Amritsar. Ajit Bhai says that I will have to get used to a lot of things from now on, but I don’t think I will ever get used to crowds. The other men push me around so violently that I am afraid of losing sight of Babu and Ajit Bhai. “Hurry, son!” shouts Babu over the roar of the crowd. I slip through the narrow gaps between men, my ability fit in small spaces being one of my only strengths. My sister and I used to have to make our way to the market once a week, where most of the village had gathered. Fitting in tight spaces was imperative in order to get to the stalls before all the food was sold out. We had eight mouths to feed. I

am small and scrawny compared to my father and brother, taking more after my Ma in appearance. I have her slender body, dark eyes, and moon-like face, but no-one could ever possess her grace. She was like a beautiful doe when walking through the field or fetching water from the well. All of a sudden, a deafening noise wakes me from my daydream. It shakes the world around me and forces me to cover my ears. “The ship horn!” screams Babu and grabs my arm, dragging me through the masses. As Babu pulls me closer to the ship, I somehow fully grasp what I am going to do for the first time. A surge of guilt hits me like a sugarcane stick as I think of leaving my family unprotected, of leaving my sister. Behind me is the only world I have ever know, in front of me the dark belly of a vessel that will carry me towards promise.

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