Welsh | Indian
My Mother was born and raised in Punjab, India. My Father is from Wrexham, Wales. They met in England. It’s quite a romantic story actually; my Mother was on holiday in the UK visiting her sister who lived here. My Father was selling my Aunty a ‘dodgy’ car for way too much money! He saw my Mum and fell in love instantly. They were married 3 months later! My Dad jokes that he didn’t get a good deal on the car because he got my Mother and ended up fixing the car for free! In December they will be celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary.
The thing I love about being mixed-race is I’ve grown up seeing two different stories. I believe it’s made my life richer, and I think I’m more open minded thanks to it. I feel like I can connect with more people and I appreciate people’s differences. I never learned Punjabi or Welsh but having lived in France most of my life means I speak French, and people are still amazed by that even though so many other people are multilingual. I started working in Logistics thanks to this and am glad that it has opened more doors to me.
Living in the French country side for many years, it was hard for some people to grasp the concept of me being ‘British’ as opposed to ‘English’ seeing as I was born in England. Also, even now, many forget I’m half Welsh and just call me Indian. I’ve never understood why it is so difficult to understand my mixed identity! It’s not a massive challenge, I know others face worse on a daily basis, it’s just a frustration I’ve always had to live with, and a constant job teaching people about my mixed heritage… and how to say my name the Welsh way and not the English way!
If I had the opportunity to be reborn I’d want to return as I am now. I love that I’m mixed-race, I love my family and how close we are and open to each other. I love that I have a different knowledge to other people and that I don’t just fall into one category. Being mixed-race is such an amazing thing, and I’m glad it’s being more celebrated. I just wish I’d taken more time to learn about my different cultures earlier. I wish I hadn’t been so stubborn and I’d learned my parent’s first languages.
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