Life Story: Kala Bagai (1893-1983)

Kala Bagai was born in 1893 in Amritsar, India. In keeping with local custom, her family arranged for her to be married when she was only eleven years old. Her husband, Vaishno Das, was twelve. Over the next decade, Kala and Vaishno had three sons: Brij, Madan, and Ram. 

In the early 1900s, India was a colony of the British Empire and had been since 1858. Vaishno resented the harsh treatment of his people by the British and actively supported Indian independence. Because the United States had already overthrown British colonial rule, he decided that emigrating there offered the best chance for his family. In the US Vaishno would also be able to join the Ghadar Movement, an Indian independence group whose anti-colonial activities were illegal in British-ruled India. Luckily for Kala, Vaishno’s family was wealthy enough to support their journey to start a new life in a new country. 

Kala, Vaishno, and their children emigrated to the US in 1915. Kala was only twenty-two years old. She did not speak any English and had three small children to care for. Her family was briefly detained at the Angel Island Immigration Station when they first arrived. Angel Island was infamous as a place where many poor Asian immigrants were held indefinitely, as immigrant officers argued that they would become a drain on the country. But Vaishno’s wealth paved the way for his family.  

In the early 1900s, discriminatory immigration laws such as the Chinese Exclusion Act significantly restricted the arrival of Asian and South Asian immigrants, particularly women. Because of this, most South Asian immigrants at the time were men. Kala’s arrival caused a sensation. It was covered in a San Francisco newspaper. The article highlighted her traditional clothing and nose ring, which were described as “the latest fad from India.” The article also stated Kala was the “first Hindu woman to enter the city in ten years.” All Indian immigrants were referred to as “Hindu” at the time, no matter what their actual religion was. Kala was not actually Hindu; she was a Sikh. A photograph of Kala holding Ram in her arms accompanied the article, but Ram was misidentified as a girl because his clothing did not match American expectations of clothing for boys.

To help her settle into her new life, Kala hired a German immigrant family to help care for her children. At the time, the United States was at war with Germany, and discrimination against German immigrants was everywhere. Kala’s choice may have shocked her neighbors, but she needed help with childcare so that she could focus on learning English and acclimating to her new country.

Vaishno opened a general store and bought a house for his family in Berkeley, California. Unfortunately, anti-Asian sentiment was rampant in the US, and when they tried to move in, their white neighbors locked them out. Vaishno and Kala chose to settle in San Francisco instead. Their children attended the local school, where they made friends and adjusted to their new community. 

In 1921 Vaishno took the oath to become a citizen of the US. But in 1923 the Supreme Court ruled that anyone from the subcontinent of India could not become a US citizen, so Vaishno lost his citizenship status and was forced to give up his business. Vaishno could not return to India because he had renounced his British citizenship when he became a citizen of the US. He was a man without a country or options. The circumstances caused despair so extreme that Vaishno died by suicide in 1928. He sent his suicide note to the San Francisco Examiner to draw attention to the injustice done to him personally as well as to other naturalized Indians in the US.

After Vaishno’s death, Kala had to find a way forward for herself and her family. Remarrying was frowned upon for widowed women in traditional Indian culture, but Kala lived thousands of miles away from the network of family and friends that would have made single motherhood sustainable. Within a few years she married a close family friend named Mahesh Chandra. 

Kala committed herself to building a successful life for herself and her family. She attended night school, made sure her children graduated college, adopted American-style dress, and even learned to play tennis. After Kala’s two oldest sons, Brij and Madan, finished school, Kala and Mahesh took them to India and arranged marriages for them there. Then Kala and Mahesh spent time travelling around the world. Later, Kala’s youngest son Ram moved to Los Angeles to attend graduate school. Back home in San Francisco, Kala made friends with her American neighbors and made it her mission to show other new South Asian immigrants the kindness and support she and her family had been denied when they first came to the US. 

In 1946 Congress passed the Luce-Celler Act, which allowed immigrants from India a path to US citizenship. Kala applied for US citizenship that same year and became a citizen in 1950. Ram got married in 1946. In 1947 Kala and Mahesh moved to Los Angeles to be closer to him. Over the next thirty years, Kala became a beloved member of her Southern California community. She sponsored and hosted Indian American events, drawing connections between the cultural traditions of her homeland and her adopted country. When the 1965 Immigration Act opened the US’ doors to more immigrants from South Asia, more Indians and their families were able to immigrate and join the community Kala had helped to build. A wide array of South Asian immigrants with different occupations, countries of origin, and religions attended her events. Kala welcomed them all, earning her the nickname “Mother India.” 

Kala Bagai died in 1983 at the age of 90. In September 2020 a section of road in Berkeley was renamed Kala Bagai Way. After considering dozens of names, the city chose to honor Kala as one of the first South Asian women in Berkeley, acknowledging the racism that drove her from her house and her resilience in fighting against it. The dedication is both a standing reminder of the history of anti-immigrant racism in the area and a way to honor Kala, whose commitment to overcoming discrimination and uplifting others made her such a positive force for the South Asian American community.

• Angel Island: A station used to process and detain immigrants entering the United States on the West Coast, similar to Ellis Island on the East Coast. It processed mainly East and South Asian immigrants.
• British Empire: The global network of countries and colonies ruled by England. 
• colony: A country or territory that is ruled by another country from afar.
• Hindu: People who follow the religion called Hinduism. The word Hindu (or Hindoo) was a popular colloquialism for any Indian immigrant in the US in the early 1900s, regardless of their religion. 
• Immigration Act of 1965: The law that abolished national origin quotas, allowing immigrants from formerly restricted parts of the world such as Asia to enter the US.
• Luce-Celler Act of 1946: The law that extended naturalization rights to Asian immigrants from countries that had been allies during World War II, such as India and the Philippines.