Voices Project

1
Voices Project

• Desh Kohli
• Researched by Shivali Kohli

2
Introduction

• Name Desh Kohli
• Maiden name Dhall
• Place of birth Kerugoya hospital, Kenya
• Date of birth 1947
• Where living now Reedley, nr Burnley

Desh as a Child
Desh now
3
Family

• Desh was one of 10 brothers and sisters, 4
  sisters and 5 brothers.
• Sadly 3 brothers and 1 sister died as babies, and
  another brother died age 24 due to serious
  illness.

Desh and her family at the age of 8
4
Childhood

• As a child, Desh lived in a village called Kutus
  till the age of schooling. When she was five, her
  parents moved to Nairobi. She started at Arya
  girls primary school in pre-primary class and
  worked her way up till year 7. She used to walk
  to and from school with her older sister Sneh,
  and her younger sister Kiran. She had a very
  happy childhood and made many friends at school
  and in the neighbourhood. She was very sporty and
  liked playing netball, rounders and badminton.

5
Childhood

• At the age of 8 Desh was playing with her nephews
  (Sheila and Kamal) by filling balloons with water
  and drinking from them. She ended up swallowing
  the balloon! In a panic state her nephews went to
  call her mother (Raj Rani) and as soon as Desh
  saw her mother come out of the house, she started
  running away in order to avoid a scene. The next
  day, she became very ill and had to have
  medication.

6
Teenage Years

• When Desh went to high school (Arya girls
  senior), she travelled on the bus with her
  friends (Karuna and Avinash). She always entered
  inter-school P.E. Competitions. After her GCSEs
  she joined a college to do a secretarial course.
  
• When she qualified she got a job in a bank
  (standard bank). She worked her way up as a P.A.
  Secretary to the bank manager.

7
Martial Life

• Desh got married on 21st April 1968 to Ramesh
  Chander Kohli, who was also Kenya born. It was an
  arranged marriage, and they both met each other
  in Nairobi. Ramesh was an accountant and worked
  for the Kenya government. They lived as a joint
  family and both used to travel to work together
  by car.

8
The move to England

• Desh and Ramesh moved to England in 1972 due to
  immigration reasons. This was because after
  Kenyas independence, jobs were allocated to all
  Kenya citizens. All the other nationality
  citizens were employed for 12-18 months on work
  permit basis. After that they either took on
  Kenya citizenship or had to leave the country.
  Desh and Ramesh were both British citizens as
  their parents chose British citizenship as
  Britain was considered a more secure place to
  live in the future.

9
The move to England

• Desh and Ramesh first came to England in 1971 as
  a holiday to visit Rameshs brother Rajender who
  lived in Burnley. While they were there, Ramesh
  put a deposit for a new house being built as a
  future investment. When they emigrated from Kenya
  after a year of working, the house was ready to
  be moved into, as by this time, they had decided
  to move to England. The deposit on the house was
  from savings, and the rest was paid my a mortgage
  taken over a period of 10 years.

10
The move to England

• When Desh and Ramesh moved to England, they also
  applied for jobs. As Ramesh was a qualified
  accountant he got a job as an accountant at a
  local firm. Desh was a qualified P.A. Secretary
  and got a job as a P.A to the factory manager of
  Michelin car company.
• The decision to come to England was purely Ramesh
  and Deshs decision as her in-laws had emigrated
  to India and her parents were already living in
  England with her elder brother Omi.

11
The move to England

• When Desh moved to England she had mixed feelings
  as she was moving away from a stable life, and
  was yet anxious to set up a new home and get a
  new job in order to start afresh. Desh and Ramesh
  found themselves adapting to the climate well and
  made friends very quickly. Desh encountered no
  problems when moving and only regrets that the
  weather in Burnley, in comparison to other
  countries, isnt really the best and feels that
  she may have made a wrong decision my moving from
  a very hot country to a very cold one.

12
Life Today

• Today Desh lives at 3 Reedley drive with her
  daughter Shivali, who is 14.
• Her husband passed away 8th January 2004.
• Desh now works at Dale Technique Ltd, as an
  accounts administrator.
• Desh is also an excellent cook and can make many
  aromatic dishes.