Ravinder was born in Cork in 1984 after her parents had moved to Ireland from India. She describes her early memories of living there with her family. When she was five they moved to England and settled in the West Midlands. However, she has always considered herself to be Irish and in the interview describes why this identity is important to her and why she, and her father, have retained their Irish passports.

Ravinder reflects on the experience of being part of Irish, English and Indian communities and how this has affected her life as a young woman and given her a unique outlook. She describes her time  in school and university and her travels afterwards. Ravinder tells of the positive benefit that she gained from being part of the Irish community whilst working in Hong Kong.

Ravinder also talks about how being Irish has resulted in involvement in and commitment to the Irish Blind and Visually Impaired Tennis team and to the Birmingham Irish Association which has recently resulted in employment as Activities and Wellbeing Officer with the Association.

When asked about her Irish identity, Ravinder says…

“I think when I was younger, it, I didn’t value it as much as I do now, because having moved to the UK and when I started school I would always have to say ‘but I’m Irish’ and everyone else is British, and you were kind of like the outsider. But people were also shocked because of my Indian background and so they would say things like, which I still find they say now [laughs] when I tell people, ‘but so are you Indian? Are both your parents, like how does it work?’ and then I’d have to explain that well I’m actually born in Ireland that’s why I say I’m Irish. But I do think it’s not just about that I was born in Ireland, but it is a part of me in a lot of ways and that, like I said, has been bought down through my dad and things like that, so even though I do get people saying ‘but you don’t have the Irish heritage so you’re not really Irish’, I do think of myself as Irish, and I do remember growing up telling people that I’m Irish and so that has always been a part of me because I have been different to everyone else [laughs].”

For more information on accessing Ravinder’s full interview or transcript please email faisneis@unaganaguna.org