Kee Khobor Stories
Kee Khobor will feature blogs, poems, vlogs and podcasts. The reflections will be shared publicly throughout the year, with our official launch on 26th March 2021.
The various identities of the Bengali community in the UK will be explored and celebrated. We will facilitate an open exchange of ideas and give voice to views, some of which may otherwise not be heard.
The project will leave a legacy that provides stewardship for future generations to not only have pride in their identity but to own it and derive strength from it, and give younger people who may be struggling the confidence and opportunity to belong to something wider.
The reflections will provide an opportunity to look ahead to the future development of the community and not only stay relevant as a community within a changing society but be inspirational to the development of wider British society.
Fusing fashion, sport and culture with the Bangladesh identity at heart
I know a lot of the young generation of British Bangladeshi may feel disconnected to have the same sense of pride or take inspiration from their cultural heritage. Whether we live in the UK or the States, or our families are from Sylhet or Dhaka, I believe we all have this symbiotic cultural connection and understanding. With all this in mind, I wanted to create a brand that would resonate with the Bangladeshi diaspora. It was a personal ambition to create something that was a celebration of Bangladesh but also evoke an emotional and sentimental feeling of pride for our heritage.
The Best of Times
Photo: Ahmed Hasan
I feel my growing years were the very best of times, an age of wisdom, in a season of light, with the spring of hope and laughter. So much fun and laughter.
A Tale of Two Rivers
I’ve always felt it easy to belong to London...who wouldn’t? When I first came to work in London in 1999 it was still a city that embraced every type of being with open arms. I could walk down the streets in gothic attire or a saree, and neither would get a second glance. I valued this all the more because having moved to Finland in 1986, I always used to notice how people stared at us...we would often be the only dark-skinned people in the city.
The ‘71 Connection
One thing that resonates, is that we all hold our heads high as Tagor saab’s athem resonates from
our inner beings... taking a fist full of our earth in hand, we echo in unison “Amar Shunar Bangla, Ami
Tumay Balobashi...” (My Golden Bengal, How I Love Thee...)!
Rabindranath Tagore - The World Poet
For Prabhashi Bangalis like me, that the influence of Rabindranath Tagore will be strong. But what about the next generation?
When I Speak Bengali
Mohsina Alam’s story.
I wish I could tell my 14 year old self that there are no standards you have to meet to belong to a culture… 50 years from now, I hope to see more successful Bengali women in the public eye.
Do I Belong?
Shuba Khatun’s story.
“Do I belong? I’ve learnt to accept that I am Bengali and British. Not English but British. I no longer shy away from speaking about my heritage, both the good and the bad. Just like I have lived in England with good and bad.”
The Myth of Return
Iqbal Wahhab OBE is the founder of London restaurants The Cinnamon Club and Roast, and is the former High Sheriff of Greater London
“…there had been a malaria outbreak which killed the other babies in the maternity ward. I was the lucky one.”