The Playful Indian: Finding My Own Place in South Asian Culture

Growing up as a British Gujarati woman, I often felt caught between two worlds. I was born in the UK to parents whose journey began in India and Kenya before eventually settling here. At home, there were traditions, expectations and cultural values that shaped everyday life. Outside, there was the influence of British culture and the constant pressure to fit in.

For a long time, that balancing act felt confusing. I struggled to understand where I belonged. I still struggle with this even today.. Like many second-generation South Asians, I found myself navigating the space between family expectations and modern life. It felt like an identity crisis that followed me throughout much of my childhood and early adulthood.

As I've grown older, my understanding of culture has changed. I've realised that embracing my heritage doesn't mean accepting every tradition, belief or expectation without question. It means allowing myself to celebrate the parts of my culture that I love while also being honest about the aspects I disagree with. For me, both experiences are equally important parts of the story.

This journey has deeply influenced my creative work. When I first started my business, I focused on creating South Asian-inspired greeting cards and illustrations that celebrated the ‘fun side’ of the culture I grew up with. This included lots of cute food illustrations turned into characters with added puns. It is still one thing I do admire about South Asian culture, there’s ALWAYS food, and that food was always shared. It is a gathering, it was, and still is, about bringing people together. 

Today, my work goes beyond celebration alone. It explores the complexity of identity, belonging and growing up between cultures. Alongside the joyful memories, like that first sip of Thums Up in India, familiar traditions, dressing up in the BEST outfits looking glam as heck, and cultural references that inspire me, I have become more interested in exploring the difficult conversations through my work too. The tensions, contradictions and challenges that many British Asians experience are just as much a part of our stories as the celebrations and festivals and I think that's what makes my generation so unique; those shared struggles of figuring out who we are.

My art has evolved as I have evolved. What began as a way to celebrate South Asian culture has become a way to examine my relationship with it. In being open about both the things I adore and the things I challenge, I've found a more authentic creative voice. And I think that's what makes my work bold: it isn't simply about culture, it's about the ongoing journey of understanding what that culture means to me.