Ramesh Sondhi
Ramesh was still under 16 when he arrived in Luton on 20th February 1967 with his mother. The youngest of seven siblings, Ramesh had lost his father when he was very young . His elder brothers already settled in Luton felt a sense of responsibility to their younger brother and applied for Ramesh to join them as a dependent sibling.
Originally from Beas Pind, Jalandhar, Punjab Ramesh settled with his eldest brother in Kenilworth Road. He recalls that during home football matches none of the family would leave the home, fearing attack by football hooligans. Racist abuse was common and occasionally windows were smashed. The weather was very cold and in the early months the snow was heavy and hard to adjust too, however despite the difficulties Ramesh was determined to progress and better his life.
Due to his age, he could not enrol at secondary school but instead attended evening classes to improve his English at Beech Hill School initially then at Luton Technical College (now the Bedfordshire University). He soon found employment at Jewish owned fur coat company on Old Bedford Road. Many other community members also joined him and worked with him – it was a good start to Ramesh’s career. After 3 years Ramesh joined Vauxhall Motors and stayed with them for 10 years assembling large vehicles for Bedford Trucks.
Ramesh married Harbhajan in 1974 and a year later he had saved enough to put a deposit on his first home. “ I paid £10,900 for me first house in Sundon Park in 1975, and I have been very happy here.” Ramesh and Harbhajan soon had a family of their own and his two sons and two daughters settled well in the area.
During weekends and holidays Ramesh would work in Scammell (later called USB), another factory based on Leagrave Road, manufacturing steel boxes for the Shipping Industry . Later he joined them fulltime leaving Vauxhalls. His eldest brother was not happy about his decision as the new employee did not offer the benefits that Vauxhalls offered their staff but work was plentiful. Often 12 hour shifts seven days a week and Ramesh was happy, remaining with the company for 26 years.
When the company closed, he joined Loomis Security, a firm specialising in replenishing cash machines. However, near tragedy almost struck, on a routine drop to a cash point in Enfield, Ramesh was the driver and his truck was ambushed by gunman. Unaware of what exactly happening outside his truck, he heard a commotion and as he was about to leave his cabin the gunmen fired. Ramesh was shot in the chest missing an inch from his heart. He was flown to the Royal Free Hospital in London and fortunately survived. Since retiring he has submerged himself to be a committed volunteer for Shri Guru Ravidass Sangat.
As the community settled in Luton there was a real need to set up a Gurudwara for everyone to congregate and worship together. In the early days the community hired Beech Hill School or Maidenhall Junior School halls to worship. In 1983 the dream of having the communities own place of worship became reality as the community came together and purchased an old Methodist Church in Cardigan Street. Ramesh was amongst the founding members. “We went house to house and up and down the country to raise the funds to purchase the Church and establish our Gurudwara in the heart of Luton…. It was a great sense of achievement.”
“Luton has given me so much… I came when I was a young boy and now I am a grandad.. who is still able to support my family members back in India.”