Gulabbhai Patel

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One of the city's Hindu veterans Gulabbhai Patel is now seventy-eight and has lived in Gloucester since his arrival in 1958. In those days, Chicken Tikka or Tandoori were non-existent, even chapatti flour and some vegetables had to be delivered from Birmingham.

Apart from working on his own farm in India, Gulabbhai had no skills in industry. He therefore had to take a job as a porter at the Queen's Hotel in Cheltenham. His weekly wage, under six pounds, was just enough to pay the rent for a shared room with a friend.

His children and many grandchildren have moved to run a motel business in America but he is still enjoying his retirement with his wife Kashiba in this country. He is a keen gardener and grows some rare and tropical vegetables in his home garden. Sometimes in the evening he visits the Hindu temple in Cheltenham.