When Asian families were evicted from Uganda by Idi Amin in 1972, my family were granted asylum in the UK. I remember being an excited young teenager not knowing what to expect! October was quite cold when we arrived and I remember the kindness of people who had set up volunteers through WRVS with a role for befriending new arrivals as well as supplying families with warm clothing. One of our new ‘family friends’ invited me to her home for Christmas and thus I had my first experience of a traditional festive family celebration, quite different to my experiences of Diwali.
My family initially moved to our new home near Dundee, Scotland where I completed my school education and I studied Nursing in London before moving to Sheffield with my husband and our first daughter. I have now lived in Sheffield longer than anywhere else in my life and this is where my children have grown up. Sheffield is a wonderful city and I feel lucky and proud to be a part of it.



Millennium Gallery