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Rosy Chetal
Rosy Chetal was born in 1969, New Delhi (India), and runs the Thomas Paine Hotel in Thetford with her husband, Gez Chetal
Skip to mediaPart of the South Asian Britain oral history collection
About
Rosy Chetal runs the Thomas Paine Hotel in Thetford with her husband, Gez Chetal. She moved from New Delhi (India) to the UK in 2002, upon marrying her British Indian husband. After working as a graphic designer and a teacher, she started working in the hotel business, where customers enjoyed her Indian cooking. Rosy also works with the Department for Work and Pensions, offering routes back into work for ex-offenders.
Rosy discusses the historic links between Thetford and Punjab, recounting stories of both Thomas Paine and Maharaja Duleep Singh. She regularly cooks Indian food, as well as other global cuisines, at the hotel, and celebrates both western and Indian traditions with her family and hotel guests.
The full interviews recorded for 'Remaking Britain', for the South Asian Britain: Connecting Histories digital resource, are available at the British Library under collection reference C2047.
Listen to Rosy Chetal talking about the Festival of Thetford and Punjab, and the connection between Thetford and Maharaja Duleep Singh.
Interview conducted by Maya Parmar, 9 August 2024.
RC: I think five or six years back, there is one person came to see us from Gravesend. They wanted to do the Indian festival here, because there's a big Indian connection with Maharaja Duleep Singh here as well. So, we never knew about Maharaja Duleep Singh. We were in India. In school, you just only hear about Maharaja Ranjit Singh. So after that nobody knows the story. This is Maharaja Ranjit Singh was the last Maharaja of Punjab. And, you know, we call it Sher-e-Punjab. You know, that's it. When we came here in Thetford, well, we looked around this area and we found the Elveden palace here, Elveden Hall. And then we learned about Maharaja Duleep Singh. So, oh my God, there's a serious Indian connection with India and Punjab. Oh my God, yeah. And then this person came to see us, and then, you know, he wanted to start the Indian festival with this place. And since then, we are collaborating with the Indian festival as well. And we are part of it now. So we do...I cook for 100 people, vegetarian and non-vegetarian Indian dishes with them. We just celebrate in July, 19th of July was the festival.
MP: So this is the Festival of Thetford and Punjab?
RC: Yeah. So, we’re...we do everything in a style, you know? So number plate as well, we had on Gez’s car, you know, staying parked in the middle, diagonally, and we had a number plate made to Punjab. So…and we had a piper, a Scottish piper, you know playing Bollywood, you know, tunes on it. So, we do different things as well. Like last year there was a...we celebrated tenth anniversary of this place. We've got BBC here, Look East was here, Punjab TV was here, ITV was here covering all the festival as well. You know, because the connection is very strong. And, you know, I'm really amazed and be a part of it. And then, you know, a lot of coaches comes from Gravesend Gurdwara are here. And we have got an Asian museum here as well. So...
MP: An Asian museum?
RC: Asian museum. So, a lot of things are donated to the [Ancient House] Museum by Frederick Duleep Singh. And then we...in our hotel as well in...we made the extension to, last year. We’re extending our restaurant and built two more bedrooms. So, we...in our new-built restaurant, we have got one wall painted of Maharaja Duleep Singh coming into the restaurant. We gave the 3D picture effect, like Maharaja Duleep Singh is coming from the stairs and coming in the restaurant. And same, we did with Thomas Paine as well. Because, you know, these are the two main sons of Thetford, really, Maharaja Duleep Singh and Thomas Paine. And I think we are very proud of this thing that we own, the Thomas Paine Hotel, which has got like seventeenth-century building and great touristic building, and is a history. And if you think and look further, you know, think further, you think, my God, we are creating a history. And when we got this place, we never knew what we are buying. You know, I'm really amazed.
All audio and video clips and their transcriptions are excluded from creative commons licensing. This material cannot be reused or published elsewhere without prior agreement. Please address any permissions requests to: remaking-britain-project@bristol.ac.uk
Entry credit
Laura Owen
