I am a dedicated psychotherapist who has carved a path of compassion and understanding in a field where my community’s representation has historically been limited. Growing up in a South Asian community where discussing feelings was often overlooked, I understand firsthand the challenges of seeking emotional support in such an environment. This personal experience fuels […]
My story begins with my grandfather, who plucked up the courage to travel aboard at the age of 22 and start a new life in the UK. I don’t think he would have thought that he would see three generations thereafter flourish and live an Anglo-Indian life in Great Britain. Beginnings in Siyod Vanmali Patel […]
Ripon Ray I grew up in Tower Hamlets, an area of East London which was known to be one of the most neglected areas in the UK. I only mixed with the Bangladeshi community, both at home and my school, Stepney Green Secondary. I always felt like a Bangladeshi living in Britain, though East London […]
My first recorded writing was my scribbles in my grandad’s diary that proclaimed “Book is god.” Who knows what was going on in my head to write that? When I discovered that tattered diary and found my writing, I realised decades later, it’s on brand for me. I grew up in a family with limited […]
Getting diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer at the age of 39 was a real shock. I’m a GP, active mother of two and always been fit and healthy. I don’t have a family history of cancer or any risk factors, so how could it happen to me? As a doctor, perhaps I played down […]
‘I am the unlucky one’ I said to the Consultant. I was sobbing away on my own with nobody to hold my hand or support me. Where did I go wrong? What had I done? I always helped everyone – young old, needy and desperate. So why did it have to be ME? I didn’t understand.
Research studies have validated that trauma experienced by our Ancestors can live on in our DNA thanks to epigenetic inheritance. Read my account of carrying intergenerational trauma from the partition of India and Pakistan here.
I am pleased to share my podcast with you. Expulsion@50 is an oral history project, created to raise awareness of the expulsion over 80,000 Asians from Uganda in 1972 by President Idi Amin. We were given just 90 days to pack up our lives and leave the country. The Expulsion was a historical event on […]
Dharma, translating to cosmic law, inherent to the eternal nature of reality. The year long, ongoing, body of work visualises these notions. Shifting between reality and fiction, the work explores themes of connection, mysticism, introspection and nuances of a Hindu lifestyle. By using the photographic process as a metaphor, it reflects my personal discovery of seeking the […]
A decade ago, the inception of “Homeland” found its roots in the minds of David Naylor and Renu Arora. This evocative piece unfolds through the lens of Renu’s South Asian heritage and her Grandmother’s Partition story.
South Asian Heritage Month dates changed to "July" from 2026 — Learn more here →
