who had migrated in 1923-24 (died in 1961). Uncle had sent him an air ticket and he travelled New Delhi/Karachi/London/New York/ Havana. Udham Singh came to Cuba along with 30-35 persons from Punjab and worked in the sugar cane farms in the province of Santiago de Cuba. Most of them had tough life. Udham Singh later on got into cloth business "pheri" in Havana. Udham never married and never visited India. However he helped his family through money remittances including educating Ajit. One Sikh Asa Singh however became prosperous and subsequently migrated to USA. Udham Singh, a friend of Late Dasondi Singh, gave him his house on his departure to India around 1952-53. Ajit continues to live in this house till today. In fact looking for Singhs in the Telephone Directory, I came across Dasondi's name. Dasondi's sons Darshan Singh and Bhag Singh, though very old, live in Mahlpur. Ajit had seen Dasondi in the village prior to his departure for Cuba.

Ajit hails from village Manak Deri on Hoshaiarput-Jullundur border. Amongst five brothers, he was the youngest. He studied upto Middle School in Bhogpur, graduating with a B.Sc. in 1953 from DAV College, Jullundur. He has a brother in Delhi and several nephews in Canada, USA and UK. On arrival he started studying Medicine but he was required to go through a Spanish language course. Those days Indian Embassy in Washington, D.C. used to look after Cuba. During the 1956-57 revolution, the University got closed. He had rough time making both ends meet. All he could do was odd jobs as no permanent positions were available. He then decided to do a Technical Diploma at the Radio & TV Institute and became a Technical Apprentice thereafter. When the University re-opened, he was advised to continue with the job rather than go for a long duration study at the University even though education was free. When he was 32 years, he got married to a Cuban and has a 35 year old son who is a Doctor.

Ajit was basically unhappy living in Cuba but had nowhere else to go and envies others who moved on and succeeded.