麻豆社

The photo is sepia tinged. Five men, leaning against railings in Piccadilly Circus. The men are all in their twenties and they look sharp, hopeful. They can't quite tear their eyes away from what's going on around them to look at the camera. One of them is presenter Krupa Padhy's dad, Chandu. It's 1965 and Chandu had just arrived in London from Tanzania. The other men come from Kenya, Malawi and even Yemen countries which all experienced extraordinary social change as British rule came to an end.

The five men met while staying in the Central YMCA on Great Russell Street, London. Little did they know then that they would weave in and out of each other's lives for the next five decades. Scattered job opportunities, racism and economic hardship lay ahead - but the support network they created was to be a formidable force in helping them survive. The photograph captures a particular moment in history for a particular generation: one which experienced a double diaspora. In this five part series Krupa Padhy tells a very personal story of the men she grew up calling 'uncles'. We'll explore the lives of the five men; their hopes, their early experiences and the lives they went onto live, propelled by a desire to integrate into British society, and supported by life-long friendship.

In this episode we hear about the Gujarati communities in East Africa where Krupa's Dad, Chandu and his friends called home. Their memories of swimming in the ocean off Tanzania are still so vivid. With tensions between the Gujarati communities and the newly independent governments increasing they had two choices to go back to their homeland in India or use their British passport to try and make in the UK.

Presented by Krupa Padhy
Produced by Kate Bissell
With thanks to Praful Patel for the photo. Left to right there is Champak, Fazel, Chandu, Indu and Pravin.