Kamlesh Purohit is a Senior Sports Producer for the BBC. Kamlesh’s family originate from Gujarat, India, but they lived in Kenya when he was born in the1960s. He was nine when they moved to Britain. Today, he feels that his British identity is the most prominent.
Kamlesh works as a Senior Sports Producer for the BBC Asian Network. He was born in Kenya in the 1960s.
Kamlesh moved to Britain when he was nine years old. The political situation in Kenya was changing and moving to Britain was viewed as a great opportunity.
‘It was a case of bettering yourself…my granddad and my dad would have seen moving from India to Africa as one step in bettering themselves and then the next step…would have been…going from Kenya …to the motherland…we were all British citizens.’
‘I then started to refer to England as home… because this is where I feel the most comfortable.’
The early years in Britain were difficult for Kamlesh and his family. His father had died in a car crash shortly before they were due to move to Britain. His mother was left to raise four children on her own.
Kamlesh experienced racism at secondary school and where he lived. But Kamlesh believes that the East African Asian community responded to the prejudice in a positive way.
‘The way Indian families in those days fought back…was by excelling in school and succeeding in your careers…in some ways that’s what’s made us stronger.’
Kamlesh feels that as a result of their experiences, East African Asians are a distinct group and are different from Asians who came to Britain direct from the Indian sub-continent.
‘I had parents who come from Gujarat of Indian origin, but I was born in Kenya, so I was East African…and then of course there was that Britishness about us as well because we were from a British colony.’
Kamlesh did not realise the strength of his British identity until he went on holiday to India.
‘When I went to India, I realised how British I was.’
When he returned from India, he began to think of Britain as home.
Despite his strong British identity, Kamlesh still feels a connection to Kenya. He is saddened by the recent political upheaval in Kenya.
‘To see all that history being repeated, all the factional stuff and you know the different tribes killing each other, is really sad to see.’
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