A huge thank you to everyone who came out to support me on the day of my book launch—it truly meant the world, especially as we braved that unexpected scorcher of a day together! I’m so excited to finally share True Love Again with you. Writing this feel-good romance, filled with warmth, hope, and a cast of loveable characters, has been a real joy. At its heart, the story is about second chances—at life, at love, and at happiness. If you or someone you know enjoys heartwarming stories with emotional depth, I promise this one won’t disappoint.
Read MorePersonal Experience
Photograph: Gulab Chagger
South Asian Heritage Month
It’s the fifth year of South Asian Heritage Month in the United Kingdom and this post was going to be a joyous celebration of how far we’ve come. The East African Asian who came to settle in Britain as we elected a new government and said goodbye to Rishi Sunak, who proudly declared that he was the grandson of East African Asian migrants who came to England after the East African countries sought independence from Britain. But the race riots have left a sour taste in my mouth. Once again I am targeted for being the other, the migrant who came to this country. I had hoped that the racial threats and violence I witnessed and experienced as I grew up would not be an experience that my own children would ever have to endure.
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Saz Vora - My Heart Sings Your Song and Where Have We Come with Sneha Purohit - Brit:in
Gratitude and Reflection
I haven’t published a blog as regularly as I did last year and the reasons are twofold.
2022 has been a tough year for me and has left me vulnerable in too many ways.
It was a big anniversary year. Thirty years is a long time, but there are days when it only seems like yesterday that we lost our son. I’ve felt sadder than usual this year and I wonder if it’s because I’ve actually told people how I feel about losing him. How that child, who on a molecular level, is still with me or is it because as I get older I’m reflecting on my life more.
I’m in an anxiety loop and this is what it looks like.
I push beyond my well-being and can’t say no to additional work. When I mean work I don’t mean the paid sort, but just stuff that gets piled onto my to-do pile.
As the list gets longer and longer everything crashes down on me and I don’t do any of the things on my list.
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Sisters celebrating Diwali.
Festivals and cultural heritage
Diwali, Deepawali, Divali is celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and some Buddhists. It is an ancient festival mentioned in early scriptures as far back as the 1st millennium CE.
For someone like me who grew up in England, Diwali often coincides with Bonfire Night, 5th November. A burning of the effigy of Guy Fawkes who plotted to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605.
This year, the two events coincide again, and we will have fireworks in abundance across the land.
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Ealing Fiction Panel - Host Lisa Evans, Nicola Rayner, Robin Duval, Saz Vora. Photograph credit Chiswick Book Festival
Personal appearances and the new norm
When the organisers of Chiswick Book Festival contacted me, I felt honoured to join Nicola Rayner and Robin Duval, fellow Ealing authors on the Ealing Fiction Panel. The discussion was great and Lisa Evans did a fantastic job of asking the right questions. It wasn’t a huge turnout but enough to create an atmosphere. If you want to listen to us, it is on the University of West London click on the name to take you their YouTube Channel
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Gently shaking the world with storytelling
‘In a gentle way, you can shake the world’
Mahatma Gandhi
I came across this quote when I was preparing to present for the UK Asian Film Festival Wembley Park's screening for Independence Day. Check out my social media and my YouTube channel for more.
It reflects what I feel about my work. When I first wrote about my experience, I was sure that a memoir wouldn’t be appropriate. After all, I’m not a famous broadcaster, presenter, blogger, or artist. Sure, I’ve won awards, I’ve had nominations, but when you work in television production, you have an entire group of people who work with you to create your work. It isn’t all about me, me, me it’s more us, us, us.
Set-up for online event
Creativity and the challenge of uncertainty
Almost a year ago, I was proofreading the paperback, checking the cover art of my first set of books, My Heart Sings Your Song and Where Have We Come. They had lifted the lockdown in England and we could go away. We booked a mid week break to Brighton, and I waited for the paperbacks to arrive. To say it excited me when they did is an understatement, you’ll get an idea if you read my blog from last year.
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Photo at the UK Asian Film Festival 2021
My heritage and identity, my way.
I thought I’d write about an incident that actually happened to me, an anecdotal retelling. I’ve taken liberties obviously, changed names. But it was real and it made me feel like an alien, like I’d suddenly grown another head, or my mask had slipped and revealed my true likeness. What annoys me is that it’s still happening. Come on people, just because someone decides to wear clothes they identify with, whether it's a saree, salwar kameez, dhoti, sarong, lungi, kitenge, dashiki, kimono, kilt, doesn’t mean they can’t speak English or understand you. Would you ask a Scotsman, ‘Do you speak English?’
It's just a piece of clothing to identify with their heritage and my skin is a layer that protects my vital organs. The combination of both doesn’t make me any different to you.