Many of the framed family photos scattered around the living room of Indian Mohini Balani are identical to the pictures proudly displayed in Violet Vella’s home.

The two women, once complete strangers, became linked when Ms Balani’s son, Robert, fell in love and married Ms Vella’s daughter, Jane.

Despite their cultural and religious differences, both women, whose husbands have passed away, had a lot in common – tolerance and acceptance were among these traits.

I realise that it’s really not something easy that they did, and they make it sound so natural

One of their granddaughters, Gillian Balani, has become increasingly aware of just how amazing this tolerance is – especially at a time when racist sentiments are expressed towards irregular migrants who land in Malta.

Violet Vella believes people should be judged on their character and not their nationality. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

“As an adult, I realise that it’s really not something easy that they did, and they make it sound so natural,” she said.

Gillian, 23, recently decided to honour her grandparents by immortalising their experiences and is in the process of interviewing them to put together a memory book she will then distribute to her family.

The multicultural blood running through her veins, and that of her sisters Nikki and Justine, has its origins when her Indian grandparents, Mohini and Ram Balani, moved to Malta in the 1950s.

The couple – who were both Sindhis and had an arranged marriage – lived in Floriana and had three children: John, Susan and Robert, Gillian’s father.

Grandma Balani, as she is known, had no trouble fitting in.

“The Maltese were very friendly and decent to us. A neighbour even helped me by taking care of the children. She was a good neighbour,” she said.

Gillian’s father, now 57, recalled how, even though his parents were practising Hindus, they never made an issue out of religion. Unlike his brother and sister, he did not have an arranged marriage.

He remembers the day he told his parents about his intentions to be with a Maltese girl.

“At first, both sides commented that, with so many to choose from, why did we have to pick someone who was not Indian or, in my wife’s case, Maltese,” he said adding that acceptance was mutual once the families met.

Once she did ask a priest if he would go to heaven since he came from a Hindu family

His mother recalled that it was very easy to accept his wife and her family. “It was very easy because the family were very kind and my relatives also accepted her. For me, it was not difficult,” she said.

On the day of their wedding, in 1979, the couple had an Indian celebration in the morning and a Church wedding in the evening – a tradition still kept in the family.

The Balani and Vella families became linked through love – the marriage of Robert and Jane Balani.

Meanwhile, sitting in her Ħamrun home, Violet Vella, 94, recalled how she had noticed that her daughter – one of four children – was dating someone before her husband Gerald passed away 11 years ago.

“I knew before my husband. My husband said: ‘An Indian?’ But he did not really grumble and, when they got to know each other, they became friends and got on well. It made no difference that Robert was not Maltese,” she said as she confessed that once she did ask a priest if he would go to heaven since he came from a Hindu family.

Her son-in-law first went to their house during the Ħamrun feast of St Cajetan when the whole family met for lunch. The family immediately took a liking to him and, eventually, to his family.

“We have nothing to complain about. We always respected each other and get on very well. There were never any problems between the families,” she said.

“It’s the character that counts… No matter where a person comes from, if there is no problem with the person’s character, there is no reason to reject that person. So long as he is a good man with a good character, why not accept him?” she said.