Mohan Gill

Born in village Delhon near Ludhiana, Mohan Gill finished his higher education and came to Canada after his marriage in 1977. He had not expected to do manual work in Canada, but he had no other choice other than working in a mill. Feeling tired physically and emotionally, he wanted to go back to India. Only over time did he adjust to his new life. While working in Prince George, he found a Punjabi community which shared his interests in the arts, which sustained him. For the first eight to nine years of his life in Canada, he could not pursue his interest in writing. It was in 1987 that he started writing regularly for the Indo-Canadian Times, after moving to Surrey. His humorous column titled “Namkīn Rasgūlē” (Savory Sweet) ran regularly for 8 years in the newspaper. These columns later got published in three books. He has also written poetry about his life experiences. He calls himself a citizen of the world who belongs to both Canada and India, and describes in this interview his personal and artistic journeys, as well as his experiences of racism in Canada, and how he dealt with them.