Spanish | Indian
In the context of the University of Oxford, we hope our names; faces and stories will emphasise that there is a place for everyone at Oxford. According to last year’s admissions data, 700 Oxford undergraduates identify as mixed. In 2016, BAME students accounted for 15.9% of the undergraduate intake. Oxford is diversifying, albeit slowly. We hope to empower mixed heritage students at Oxford and foster a community where they can safely share their own opinions, experiences and stories.
When asked how I identify I tend to say Spanish and Indian. On official forms I’m Mixed White/Asian. My Mum’s parents are Indian, and my Dad was brought up by his Spanish mother. Being mixed-race is not something I considered until I was about 6 or 7 and my parents were involved in an article for the Independent about the rise of inter-racial marriages. It’s still something I didn’t think I thought about much until my teens. At first my Grandparents didn’t approve of the fact that my Mum was going to be marrying a White guy, but by the time we were kids they had obviously put it all behind them. I was brought up Catholic, but we still celebrated Hindu celebrations such as Diwali. We always had to lie to our Indian grandparents if we had to leave their house on a Sunday to go to church. I love cooking and am obsessed with both Spanish and Indian cuisine. I have spent lots of time in Spain so also love the music of the Spanish speaking world and speak the language. I’m planning on doing some travelling after Uni to get more in touch with my Indian heritage. I’m hoping to do a trip involving going back to Jalandhar, the town my family are from, and other places of significance to my heritage. There’s a temple on the Ganges in Punjab that has a scroll with all my ancestors’ names on it. While studying at Oxford I have had some comments regarding my ethnicity, there are people wherever you go that will make little comments that they don’t realise are offensive. I have definitely become more aware of my status as a mixed-race individual, but in a good way. While at Oxford I have definitely learned to love and appreciate my heritage much more. If I had the opportunity to be reincarnated I would like to come back just as I am. I now feel very connected to both Indian and Spanish culture and have a great appreciation for them both; more so than British culture. I love London but find it difficult to connect with British values.
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