Four Suitcases

I could just as easily call this piece “Wine-tasting with Rachna”… except that when Rachna and I share wine and stories, there are often too many black holes and lapses in memory. However, when we run together, I get to fill in the gaps. Moreover, where my memory still wanes, there has been Risha, Rohin, and Rajan to play covert ops. So thank you to the 3Rs for your stealthy assistance.

Larger still, thank you to Rachna and Rick for taking me into your confidence and trusting me with your story.

A brief history lesson for context:

The Partition of India and the End of British Colonial Rule

In August 1947, the British-ruled India was divided into two new independent countries: India and Pakistan. There were two ceremonies, one in what would become the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on August 14 and one in what came to be known as the Republic of India on August 15 to enable Mountbatten to attend both. To mark the occasion, then-Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru addressed the newly-independent state at midnight. He said “At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out form the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.”

Immediately, millions of people rushed to switch sides of the border – fearing they would be discriminated against because of their religion – and the two countries began fighting over the territory of Kashmir.

The contested land – which both countries claim in full – has been divided since and central to the testy and violent relationship between the two states. (Ref. www.standard.co.uk/news/world/ 2017-08-15)

The Partition of India was set forth in the Indian Independence Act of 1947 and resulted in the dissolution of the British Raj, as the British government was then called. The violent nature of the partition created an atmosphere of hostility and suspicion between India and Pakistan that plagues their relationship to the present and accounts for the deaths in a range of 200 000 to 2 million with an additional 14 million people displaced. (Ref. www.wikipedia.com Partition of India)

The Indian-Pakistan Conflict

The British leaders finally agreed that the Partition was the best way to limit bloodshed between Hindus and Muslims within India. It was decided that India would be split into two independent nations. Pakistan would contain the mainly Muslim region of India and India would retain the region of Hindu majority. (Ref. www2.needham.k12.ma.us>Bker_00)

Jinnah and the making of Pakistan

As British rule there drew to an end, many Muslims demanded in the name if Islam, the creation of a separate Pakistan state. Its emergence in August 1947 remains one of the major political achievements of modern Muslim history. It resulted mainly form the efforts of one man, Mohammed Ali Jinnah. (Ref. www.historytoday.com>ian-talbot)

And now for our story...

Paul Minocha was the 10th of 13 children and the youngest boy of the family. He was raised on a farm on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, over 80 years ago. His father wanted him to be a dentist.

All the boys in Paul’s family entered the military in order to get an education. Paul went to Birmingham, England and studied Engineering. He also proved to be quite a ladies’ man and reportedly enjoyed the company of several girlfriends.

Meanwhile, just prior to the separation of India and Pakistan, the Seth family left Lahore and went to Delhi to attend a wedding. As the separation unfolded, they could not return to their home and were forced to make a new life for the family in Delhi.

In his early thirties, a youthful-looking Paul returned to Delhi and decided it was time to settle down. There, he met 21-year old Promilla Seth. Thinking he was merely 25, she agreed to marry him.

Their union produced 2 children, a son, Rakesh and two years later, a daughter, Rachna (Bitia).

Promilla had two brothers, Sudesh and Ram Prakash, who lived in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

When the children were 4 and 6 years old, Paul and Promilla (also known affectionately as Pimi or Mama) sold everything that could not fit into 4 suitcases and left for Canada with a plan to stay for 6 months. They would stay with Pimi’s brother and family rent-free.

The day following their arrival in Canada, it snowed. It was the first time the children had ever seen snow.

Speaking no English at the time, the children were encouraged to learn and make friends by going to the nearby park. To help contribute to the household while Paul looked for full time work, Pimi worked at a chocolate factory.

At the five-and-a-half month mark, Paul found work at Enamel & Heating in Sackville NB and the family moved to Amherst NS. There, he worked as comptroller and eventually became the VP of Finance. He went back to school to earn his CMA. Very often, he travelled to and from work and school by hitchhiking.

The family initially settled in a house by the old high school close to the candy store on Havelock Street. Eventually, they moved up to Willow Street and purchased a semi-detached home, raising their family on one side and drawing income from the rent the other.

Pimi, who earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics before leaving India, would work occasionally as a substitute teacher in the local area and part time in the women’s section of a local department store.

In his later years of employment, Paul worked in Amherst with renowned lawyer, businessman, and Order of Canada recipient, Dr. H. Reuben Cohen, founder of Central Guarantee Trust. Dr. Cohen took Paul under his wing, trusting him implicitly, typically with large sums of money. Dr. Cohen determined that Paul was both loyal and brilliant, qualities Paul and Pimi were certain to instill and impart in their children and grandchildren. Paul would insist that if a business could yield tens of thousands of dollars, then rather than merely depositing the money into the bank, the money should be put to better use by investing in the company.

(Years later, the relationship forged between Paul and Dr. Cohen would prove integral in helping Rachna launch her own dental practice in Amherst. Legend also has it that the relationship sparked mild controversy when, in his role as chancellor at Dalhousie, Dr. Cohen bestowed a kiss upon Rachna’s cheek as he presented her with her certification upon her graduation from Dalhousie Dental School. When some decried the act by claiming that Dr. Cohen was favouring minorities, Dr. Cohen shrugged off the accusation and said he was merely demonstrating affection and pride for his good friend’s daughter.)

The Minocha children, Rakesh and Rachna, thrived in academics throughout their school years.

After graduating from Amherst High School with honours and distinction, Rachna went on to study science at Mount Allison University in Sackville NB and later further advanced her success by enrolling in dental school in Halifax NS.

Upon graduation from Dalhousie in 1991, Rachna soon opened her own dental practice in her hometown of Amherst NS, realizing the dream her grandfather had wanted for her father all those years ago in Delhi.

In time, Rachna met and fell in love with Rick McKenney of Smiths Falls, Ontario. A former junior hockey player nicknamed Psycho and then-orthotics sales representative, he gradually wooed and wore her down with three marriage proposals.

They were married in a traditional Hindu ceremony on December 21, 1996.

Rick then enrolled in dental school and eventually he and Rachna became partners in the dental practice… but not before first starting their family. Their daughter Risha was born on April 26, 1998, while Rick was still a dental student in Halifax. When Risha was three weeks old, Rachna returned to her practice and Pimi and Paul took on their roles as full time grandparents.

The dental practice firmly established, Risha was joined by brother, Rohin, on November 23, 2000 and on October 14 2002 by brother, Rajan.

Present day...

Rick and Rachna are raising their children to appreciate what they have – opportunities, safety, connections. What’s more, like Paul’s financial analogy, they have taught them to not just bank their skills, talents, and knowledge, but also to share them and invest in the greater good of the community around them.

They have grown into bright, upstanding citizens, students who excel, and community-minded individuals who strive to make their home - and by extension, the world - a better place. Their parents and grandparents have taught them to be involved, to balance athletics with academics, service with stewardship, politics with charity.

Each of the grandchildren now have their own vehicles (or access to one) to navigate the roads once hitchhiked by Papa to get to work and school.

They make Mama smile with pride with each of their accomplishments, although she is always quick to point out that there is still room for improvement. (If you can get a 97%, what’s keeping you from 100%? What is the 3% that you do not know?). They do not perceive it as pressure or criticism. They see it as a challenge.

Of course, other challenges remain. When the Minocha-McKenneys travel internationally, 4 of the 5Rs have passports that reflect their birthplace as Canada. Rachna, more often than not, is held up at Security or Customs because her name and place of birth differ from her family members. She undergoes a separate and more stringent review than the others. As good as things may be in Canada, they can always be better.

A thriving, tight-knit family, the 5Rs inspire. I think the inspiration goes back a few generations - it’s part of the combined DNA.

As such, the next generation is in good hands.

And it all started with 4 suitcases.

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