Obituary: Sarasben Saroj Kanji

SADLY MISSED: Sarasben Saroj Kanji was farewelled in Rotorua on Thursday. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

YOU don't have to be a hot shot to win respect and affection.

Sarasben Saroj Kanji proved that when it took those who packed out the Convention Centre to farewell her more than half an hour to reach her casket to place flowers on her body, in line with Hindu tradition.

Saroj (Shirley to her Kiwi friends) was a low-key wife and mum who, for 50 years, was known as the "lovely lady in a sari" tending customers in B David & Co's Arawa St fruit shop.

When it closed in 2005, this newspaper recorded it as Rotorua's oldest business, founded by her husband Parbhu's uncle, Kesha Vallabh, at least 80 years earlier.

Locals - Pakeha, Maori and Chinese - were joined by members of the Indian community from throughout the country to pay tribute to a woman who epitomised family values and good, old-fashioned customer service.

"Serene", "gracious", a "loving, kind soul" were words that featured in the eulogies.

Daughter Tara told how typhoid fever interrupted her mother's education at 12, that Saroj never passed a formal exam, yet ensured her three children were university educated.

She described how Saroj was left behind in Gujarat when her family emigrated to the UK because, at 15, she was "suitable for marriage".

It was a New Zealand Indian, Parbhu Kanji, who claimed her, bringing her to Rotorua in 1962.

"She had no family, didn't speak English, the climate was harsh, the food foreign, the spices she loved difficult to source, she would rise at 4.30am to work in the shop, her life was very hard," Tara said.

But by the time her first child was born Saroj had become so "Kiwified", she was making Madeira cakes and knitting.

"She was one of the first Indian women of her generation to learn to drive, she shared cooking tips with customers who became her friends, benefiting from her home-ground spices; they left the shop spoilt for choice."

She said when it came to saris her mother was a fashionista.

"Only last week she asked me to go to that 'www dot thing' so she could check out the latest trends in Indian fashion."

Saroj Kanji died at 71 after a protracted battle with breast cancer.

She is survived by husband Parbhu, Tara, youngest son Prakash (PJ) and three grandchildren.

The Kanjis' hearts were broken when elder son Girish was killed in a car crash when he was a university student.