31 Oct Sher Singh Ghuman
Sher Singh Ghuman was born on 5 February 1947 in Village Sanghredi district Sangroor, Punjab. His father’s name was Sardar Atma Singh Ghuman and mother was Dalip Kaur. Sher Singh Ghuman has 3 brothers and 3 sisters and one of his sisters has passed away. He has one daughter who is a high school teacher back in India and one son who was also a high school teacher in India but now stays with him in Canada. His daughter-in-law Karvir Kaur is a nurse and mother of two boys and a girl. After his retirement as a Punjabi high school teacher from Senior Secondary School Garachon, Sher Singh Ghuman moved to Abbotsford, Canada on 2nd May 2005.
Sher Singh Ghuman’s first 11 months in Canada weren’t pleasant for him as he observed Canada to be a country more beneficial for youngsters than for old people. All the jobs required a certain kind of training, which he thought the young generation could handle better than him. He did labour work for 11 months including picking berries at a farm for 2-3 months. Sher Singh Ghuman went back to India after this and came back after a year to work in the berry farms once again. He has also worked as a secretary at the Indo-Canadian Senior Citizen Centre and enjoyed serving people who come there.
Sher Singh visits India occasionally and serves his village and community from time to time. He helped pay for the education of some girls who wanted to study in India including paying for the books of others who couldn’t afford. He also helps the people who come to him for buying uniforms for students. He also spent money in constructing a new school in his village. He said that it is very hard for him to leave Punjab, his friends and especially his students who he treated like his own children. He also misses the school he studied in for five years and later taught there for 30 years.
Although he admires the hard working Canadians, he feels that people here have no social life. According to him nowadays both husband and wife have to work a lot just to pay the bills and live a moderate life. Despite of all this Sher Singh Ghuman feels that people should help each other ignoring the money aspect and he still helps anyone who comes for his aid.