Jagindro recalls arriving in Australia as a two-year-old in 1957, when many Punjabi women were often recorded as ‘Singh’ instead of ‘Kaur’

Jagindro Kalkat’s family’s connection to Australia goes back generations when her father’s nana ji, Mangal Singh, arrived in Australia by ship in 1878 and worked for years cutting trees and clearing land for vegetation and cultivation in Gordonvale and the Tablelands in Far North Queensland. In this episode, she reflects on her own migration journey, arriving in Australia as a two-year-old with her mother to join her father in regional Queensland. She shares hardships women faced on remote farms, hard work of the Sikh families and why many Punjabi women like her and her mum were recorded as 'Singh' instead of 'Kaur' in official records.

Punjabi pioneers: When many Punjabi women were often recorded as ‘Singh’ instead of ‘Kaur’ in Australia. Credit: Supplied by Jagindro Kalkat

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