iCANConnect member, Malaika Maha Jawed, shares her experiences following South Asian Heritage Month!
As South Asian Heritage Month comes to a close, we hear from Associate Solicitor at Clyde & Co, iCANConnect member and Network Leader Malaika Maha Jawed about her experiences!
Many thanks for Malaika and Clyde & Co for sharing!
South Asia is predominantly made up of eight different countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, The Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Whilst all of these countries fall into the same category in terms of geography, there are vastly contrasting cultures, religions, food, music, languages and terrains across the whole of South Asia. India alone has 22 official languages (which is why no “Indian Restaurant” is ever the same as another!).
This year’s theme for South Asian Heritage Month is “Journeys of Empire”, and it’s been incredibly fascinating hearing stories about heritage, migration and the intersectionality of cultures - especially as this year marked the 75th year of the partition between India and what is now known as Pakistan.
I was born in England in the 80s to first generation immigrant parents. Whilst my parents are of Indian heritage, they each come from entirely different parts of India (Hyderabad Dhakan and Rajasthan) but both their families migrated to Karachi, South Pakistan shortly after the partition in 1947 and they became known as a community of people called “Mahajirs”. Their families later migrated to England, and that was where my parents met for the first time.
Thinking back to the migration of 1947, it’s hard to celebrate when I hear the stories of death, destruction and turmoil that came hand in hand with uprooting what were seemingly happy lives and re-settling in unfamiliar lands. It would take a much longer blog post to detail the experiences of my parents and grandparents during the partition.
Being a British South Asian, I know only too well the struggles of trying to harmonise two (or three in my case) very different cultures. There is a sense of belonging that we spend our entire lives yearning for, never entirely sure exactly where we fit in or belong.
However, Journeys of Empire has made me think about the various instances of migration that my ancestors experienced from the Middle East to India, Pakistan and finally Europe/Americas.
It’s hard to think what life might have been like without all of this migration, but what I do know is that despite all the challenges, I am richer for it. I now have friends and family from many different parts of the world. I take the best from the different cultures I have grown up with (especially the food!) and try to use my platform to raise awareness.
The intricate history of South Asia and learning about my ancestry is testament to the fact that humans are after all, not trees. We are not designed to stay in the same place all our lives and by migrating and learning new ways of life, we learn and develop and build stronger connections.