English | Bengali - NHS Biomedical Support Worker
My Mum is English, and my Dad is from Bangladesh. My Dad worked in the local Indian restaurant where they met and became friends. My Mum fully immersed herself in Bengali culture, she converted to Islam and then visited Bangladesh as soon as they got married. She learned Bengali and how to make the best curries. My Dad is very proud to be living in the UK. In our family, we celebrate Eid and Christmas, most nights we enjoy curries but also having full English roasts on Sundays.
I've always been proud to be mixed-race. I like when people ask where I am from, I feel I have the best of both worlds. I grew up in a very White community and racism was very prominent. I would usually get comments from other children at high school asking how I had a tan all year round. I am glad now that there is more awareness about different ethnicities. I feel that many people want to fit me into a certain box. Such as some family members from my Bengali side would see me as more westernised, while my English side would see me as more Bengali. There are not a lot of people I can relate to that's why I really enjoy reading all the stories from Mixedracefaces, I feel I'm not alone.
I have visited Bangladesh three times and absolutely loved the experience, life there is totally different from in the UK. I really enjoyed getting to know how my Dad grew up and meeting so many family members. One of my fondest memories is getting the train to Chattogram and Cox's Bazar from Sylhet, which was a very interesting experience as there would be people riding on the roof of the train and it was so busy filled with people, I would never complain about rush hour in London after that.
I love working in London as there are so many people from different countries, having different religions and cultures. Where I work I feel like they are very considerate of gender, cultures, and sexuality. Sometimes at work people bring in food that they have cooked from traditional home recipes and it’s nice to celebrate the diversity of everyone.
Want to read more? Subscribe here #mixedracefaces