I’m excited to have a 15 min reading of an extract of When Spring Comes at the TDA Writers night on Music and Migration…

Here’s a little blurb about the piece and what inspired me…

East Africa has always been close to my heart: Swahili imbibed Gujerati, Indian food with African ingredients, homes decorated with African masks and fabrics. As a child I quickly developed a taste for the melancholic tales of the lush landscapes and carefree childhoods.

As an adult I realized, I had inherited a feeling of loss for something I had never had. Music became a connection. Certain songs precipitate a feeling of melancholy that I know is not my own but belongs collectively to another generation. It is an anchor for belonging; whether that is London, Kampala or Mumbai. Through music, we chart journeys beyond the physical. Through it – we find ourselves connected to something beyond ourselves.

The story of When Spring Comes is an exploration of family – but also how love, loss and yearning are passed on subliminally to the next generation.