Sundar Lal

Sundar's father, Kesha Ram was from India and his mother, Ramraji, was from Fiji. He was born in a small northern town called Vatumami, Ra Fiji on January 18, 1936. Sundar lived in a lovely home near a very pristine river where he loved to swim and catch wild fish and fresh prawns. One of his favourite pastimes was to climb a mini Diamond Head Mountain which was located directly behind his home. This was the beginning of Sundar becoming a very adventurous outdoor person! He attended public elementary school near his home and walked through his family's sugar cane fields on his long way to school. Sundar received all his formal education in Fiji.

While growing up, Sundar was expected by his family to do chores which involved feeding chickens, grazing cows and goats, growing vegetables, and cutting sugar canes in never ending fields! He was very eager to help all his uncles and aunties as well. Apart from these chores, he enjoyed playing soccer which is one of Fiji's favourite sports. In Sundar's teenage years, he was hired by a very well-known sugar mill company near his home in Penang. At the mill, he was assigned to be a messenger who delivered mail to the sugar mill workers. During this time, he learned to be an effective cook. These skills were required and taught by workers from abroad. Sundar, through is mother and the workers, became a fabulous cook.

In 1961 Sundar moved to Tavua, Fiji where he found work as a cabinet maker and carpenter in a nearby gold mining community, called Emperor Gold Mine. From Tavua, Sundar saw that there was a future across the Pacific Ocean. He felt there was a new golden opportunity to begin a new journey to a new land which derived its name from the First Nation's word which means "village". This village was far larger than his current home in Fiji. In January 1972, Sundar arrived on the shore of Vancouver, BC, with his family arriving in 1973. Sundar thrived in his new homeland as a cabinet maker, door maker, and a very successful entrepreneur in the restaurant business. He was very productive and engaged in all his work endeavours.

One of the highlights of Sundar's life was to see the world around him. He visited many countries throughout the world and enjoyed it thoroughly. These travels were a continuation of the adventurous side of Sundar was when he met with Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay). He had a rare and special opportunity to spar with one of the greatest boxers of all time.

In Sundar's latter years, he fought courageously with kidney disease. The battle is over and he is now in the presence of Jesus Christ.

Through his life, the lessons we learned from Sundar were the qualities and importance of hard work, perserverance, staying fit, and maintaining a good diet. He also conveyed to us a deeper appreciation of how to explore and enjoy the unique beauty of this world. His personal attributes of being kind, patient, humorous and his soft spoken nature will be missed by all of us.

Thank you so much Sundar for sharing your many special stories with us during our time with you.