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.

Unashamedly Bangladeshi
Identity, Belonging, Kee Khobor, Diaspora, Bangladesh Aftab Rahman Identity, Belonging, Kee Khobor, Diaspora, Bangladesh Aftab Rahman

Unashamedly Bangladeshi

Being the last commonwealth cohort to arrive certainly put us at the bottom of the pecking order and a smaller build from the other South Asian communities meant that we were easy targets. Growing up, we had to learn to defend ourselves or run. My understanding was: if you run you would have to do that all your life. I chose to stand and fight when I was able to.

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Leaving Home To Go Home
Identity, Displaced, Conflict, Arts Masuma Khwaja Identity, Displaced, Conflict, Arts Masuma Khwaja

Leaving Home To Go Home

Photo: The Mutiny Within

Violent imagery that has been constructed out of thousands of innocuous little stiches, positioned on the inner lining of a sherwani, This artwork talks of buried secrets and compromises made. A garment worn by bridegrooms and premiers, holds context on the inside that need never be revealed.

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The Matriarch
Identity, Story Telling, Female Empowerment, Family Shwetasree Majumder Identity, Story Telling, Female Empowerment, Family Shwetasree Majumder

The Matriarch

Photo: Syed Rifat Hossain

Mamoni was shorn of all adornment, dressed in a creamy white saree with no border, the parting in her hair bereft of the meandering stream of vermillion, looking bloodless and stark. What you noticed from a distance, was the blank canvas of her forehead, no longer marked by the pomegranate red kumkum powder, painstakingly shaped into a perfect circle every morning by Mamoni’s deft fingers

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A Tale of Two Rivers

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.

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I Know They Love Me When…
Identity, Women, Kee Khobor Saffrana Rahman Identity, Women, Kee Khobor Saffrana Rahman

I Know They Love Me When…

Speaking English and Bengali, I sometimes found it confusing, and it would frustrate me growing up that my Baba was the only person who would say 'I love you' to me, as my Ammu, Dadi and Dada would never say it. As I've grown up and understand more, I have realised that saying these three words is not the only way to prove that they love me, but rather, they show it through their actions.

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Establishing My Identity
Identity, Women, Kee Khobor Nazifa Ullah Identity, Women, Kee Khobor Nazifa Ullah

Establishing My Identity

As I entered my teen years, I found it difficult to identify with the Bengali culture. My Parents would often share stories of their childhood; growing up in the village, swimming in ponds and eating fresh belfoy. But I couldn’t connect with their memories - Bangladesh just seemed like a world away to me.

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Empowerment For Change
Identity, Women, Kee Khobor Lena Ahad Identity, Women, Kee Khobor Lena Ahad

Empowerment For Change

Photo: Raju Vaidyanathan

Deep down I felt a real sense of injustice, and drive to fight back. However, as a 10 or 11 year old child that didn’t seem possible. So my weapon of choice became education -which I remember being enforced at a very early age. Education meant greater choice, freedom, access to money and empowerment. So that’s what we [my siblings and I], as children, focussed on.

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My Father
Identity, Women, Kee Khobor Nabila Choudhury Identity, Women, Kee Khobor Nabila Choudhury

My Father

My Father has also been very inspiring for me. He was in fact awarded an MBE in 2002 (during the Queen’s birthday Honours) for his outstanding work in patient care. He has always been a benchmark for us and along with my family culture, I have had great role models, to look up to. I feel it is their influence which has helped me in becoming a forward-thinking, proud British Bangladeshi woman.

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