Curry stories with the National Portrait Gallery

As part of the Bangladesh50 celebration project with the National Portrait Gallery, Ripon Ray shares his experience of being part of the migrant Bangladeshi community in Britain.

Transcript:

I am Ripon Ray. I was born in Bangladesh. I came to the UK when I was eight years old. I was brought up in Newham and Tower Hamlets.

I was told by my oldest sister that my dad had an Indian restaurant. He sold his restaurant to pay off his debts. He then worked as a chief in Ipswich until he retired. When my dad use to come home after being away for a week he would sometime cook Indian restaurant food for us. His cooking was very different compared to my mother's cooking.

My older brother also worked in a restaurant. He worked as a waiter for over 10 years. Two of my brother in laws also worked in the restaurant trade.

In one way or another the restaurant industry is in my blood - whether like it or not.