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African-Asian Profile

Kamlesh Purohit
Kamlesh Purohit

Kamlesh Purohit is a Senior Sports Reporter with the BBC Asian Network. Here, he talks about his memories as a child growing up in Kenya. View your memories here

     Q: What was it like being a young boy growing up in Africa?

    My memories of Africa were as a very young boy, so they are memories of a typical young boy. We would play out on the streets, things were very safe in those days, not like how it is these days, there was no concern about where children were going, by and large it was a wonderful environment. There were lots of people there from lots of different backgrounds and communities; it was a wonderful experience, being able to roam freely in the streets in large big open spaces. We used to play a lot of cricket and 'gulli danda' in the streets, play with marbles, and play with match box toy cars. Those are the type of memories that I have of growing up with friends: Punjabi friends, Pakistani friends, Gujarati people and African boys. So I have wonderful memories of a wonderful place.

      Childhood in Kenya
      Q: Often in the newspapers, we see a lot of criticism about the lack of social interaction between the Asians, Whites and Blacks in Africa, for you how true was this?

      I think there was an element of that, yes without a doubt. The white community was a much smaller community, when I was growing up in the early 60s, but before that there was a much stronger British presence, because they were the colonial rulers of Kenya, and of the rest of Africa as well, but after independence the English (British) people then left and went back to the UK. There were still a lot of British people who remained there, in governmental positions or certain other areas, but by and large the communities you had there were the indigenous African community, and the Indian community which had migrated from Asia.

      And the interaction between the black and white communities wasn't that great, but as far as the Indian community was concerned I suppose they were the middle tier, in the sense that their jobs and businesses were very successful. A lot of Indians were in governmental positions and judicial positions so they interacted with the white people there. In terms of dealing with Africans, it was more on a day-to-day basis, for example the police there were predominately of African origin, some of the teachers that we had were African, and some of the servants that worked for us were African. So there were parts of your life in different walks where you interacted with African people, and you know, we almost grew up believing that we were part of one country. As a child, i never (and I am sure I could vouch for other kids who grew up there) felt that I was living in a country that was foreign. We felt that this was our country, and we were all part and parcel of the same place.

        Kamlesh with Mother and Brother
        Q: How did you feel when you left Kenya to come to the UK?

        I think that there was a feeling of sadness leaving Kenya, because that was home for us. I was born there; all my friends were, there but having said that, for us, coming to England was the ultimate. You know, most of us in East Africa had British passports, we were British subjects, and it was like coming to the mother country. For parents it meant the opportunity to bring their kids to this wonderful country. It was the opportunity to give them a better education, a better future.

        Of course, we had seen pictures of England before, it was just like a dream, to come to England and live in this wonderful country that we had read about in books, it was a really exciting prospect. There was sadness at leaving East Africa, but it was overruled by the excitement of coming to this wonderful country

          Kamlesh and Mukesh
          Q: Did the U.K, live up to your expectations?

          As a kid I used to read stories about life on the farm, we used to think about how children used to ski to get to school, all those kinds of things that kids romanticize in their heads with their wonderful imaginations! They create a lot of things that aren't actually real, so when I came here and things were actually very different I wouldn't say it was a disappointment, but it was different from what we had imagined England to be like. It was very beautiful and very organised. The life structure here was very different from what we were used to in Africa, so it was still very exciting.

            Q: You are in a unique position. You are of Indian origin, were born in Africa, and have spent most of your life in the UK. How have three contrasting cultures combined to form your identity?

            In a wonderful way, really. I feel very privileged to have those three aspects of my origin, if you like, with my parents being of Indian origin, I think I've learned a lot, I think I have gained a lot, from a very rich culture. The part of me that is from Africa makes me very proud of the things that I have experienced and the things I have learnt.  Some of the experiences I have had,kids in this country could have only dreamt about! So I think I feel very privileged that I was in the position to see wild animals roaming about, here you have to go to a zoo or a safari park, and yet there you see these things out in the open! To come to England and to be able to marry those rich cultures to the British way of life which I feel has given me so much, is amazing. I have benefited so much from being a citizen of this country. I feel I have had the best of three worlds. I feel very privileged to be able to learn from all these different cultures.

              Q: You have children, how do you think that your Kenyan and African heritage has affected them?

              In some ways it has and in some ways it hasn't. They are third generation kids, third generation Asians born in this country, as far as they are concerned they are British, everything about them is British. They live in this country, they were born in this country, their future is in this country. What I have tried to relay to them are some of the wonderful experiences I have had, and some of the bitter experiences I have had. I have been able to put things into perspective for them and have made them understand  certain realities of life that they don't necessarily feel in this country. I've been able to give them a perspective of what life is like in the rest of the world, and I hope that that will teach them what life is really like.

              To give you an example, when we were in Kenya, my dad was an accountant and my mum wasn't working, so there wasn't a lot of money, we weren't starving but we were not well off. The luxuries that you have these days we didn't have in those days and so you appreciated life in a different way. You respected things and you valued things more and so when we did have the odd toy we valued it and we looked after it, it was a very prized possession. Of course, my kids now have got the kinds of toys that we could have only dreamed about in those days! What I try to do is get them to value and respect things, and realise they don't just fall out of the sky, and I think that is primarily because I was fortunate enough to see the other side of the coin.

                Nairobi Skyline
                Q: Would you like to go back to Kenya?

                Absolutely, no hesitation in saying yes. I mean that would be a dream. Would you believe I have been in the UK for over 30 years, the best part of my life has been in this country yet I have never been back to Africa?! For me that is something that I would love to do, almost like a pilgrimage, to go back to Nairobi where I was brought up, and to go to city primary school which is the school I went to. It would just be great I would love to do that, I've just got so many memories in my head. It would be nice to go back now and compare what it is now to how it was before, I'm sure it must have changed a lot.

                  Kamlesh with his son Arjun
                  Q: As a sports reporter you obviously are very passionate about sports, so, if there was a cricket triangular series between India, England and Kenya, who would you be supporting?

                  That's a really tough question but I will be a coward and say I am not a gambling man so I won't put money on anyone! But that is a really interesting question and you know it is one which has actually happened in reality, to some extent, because we covered the world cup in South Africa and I was there reporting live for the BBC Asian network, and the semi-final was between Kenya and India. It meant split loyalty for me, because a couple of the Kenyan players I've got to know quite well, and have become like friends. Ravindu Shah is a person I have got a lot of time for, and every time we meet we have a nice chat and catch up. So, I have a very soft spot for Kenya and every time I watch the players in action I always route for them and hope they do very well. 

                  I am such a big fan of Indian cricket, even as a child in Kenya I was brought up to always support the Indian cricket team.  In fact, one of my memories as a kid was watching the Indian side being led by the Nawab of Pataudi (Saif Ali Khan's dad) who brought the Indian side over, and I remember my dad took us to watch their match in Kenya. It was so exciting for us to see the Indian side coming over to play cricket there. So, to answer your question I think the result in that semi-final was the perfect result because India won but Kenya put up a fantastic performance they didn't disgrace themselves. So, in some ways I was really pleased because the Kenyans kind of felt that they had achieved a lot, and got to a dream semi-final and did a lot better than they had expected to do, and they felt good about it and India went on to get into the final, (but lost miserably!)But were in the final nonetheless, so it was wonderful from the point of view of them getting so close.

                  But England kind of comes third, if I am honest with you, but I still have a lot of time for English cricket, I am so pleased that they are doing so well at the moment. So I suppose if there was a pecking order it would be in that order: India first,then Kenya and England third!

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