Discovering My South Asian Heritage

Background

My mum was born in 1978 in Scotland to an English father and a Scottish mother, while my dad was born in 1966 in Bristol to an English mother and an absent non-white father. My paternal grandmother never disclosed any details about my dad’s father, but one of her friends provided my dad with some clues. According to this friend, his father once worked as a bus driver in Bristol shortly after the Bristol Bus Boycott of 1963 and later moved to London to become a lawyer. My dad also learned that his father’s first name was Nassim/Nasim/Naseem, an Islamic name. Although we didn’t want to assume, it seemed likely that he was from South Asia due to the higher demographic presence in the UK at the time compared to other regions with significant Islamic populations.

My dad and I grew up in the South West of England, aware of our mixed race heritage but not knowing the specifics. Both of us experienced racial abuse during our childhoods. For me, however, my learning disabilities were more often the reason for my lack of acceptance than my skin colour. I struggled with feeling incomplete, as if a part of my identity was missing. I was eager to learn about my heritage and often found it difficult to select the appropriate box on forms and applications due to the lack of inclusive options.

Finding out My Heritage

In October 2017, I decided to take an autosomal DNA test from AncestryDNA. I provided a saliva sample, mailed it to Ancestry, and three weeks later, I received an email with the results. I discovered that part of my identity was South Asian. Finally, my dad and I knew our heritage. In Spring 2020, I took a second DNA test with 23andMe to gain more details, and I learnt that my South Asian heritage is from Punjab, a region in Northwestern India and Central Eastern Pakistan. Both locations appeared in the DNA matches, but the Indian Punjab had a higher match.

Aftermath

Discovering my heritage was significant, but I still don’t know any close relatives who are fully South Asian. On both Ancestry and 23andMe, you get matched with people who share your DNA, but the closest South Asian match I found was a fourth cousin. This is partly because South Asian people are less likely to take DNA tests, often due to socioeconomic factors. I also posted on Facebook in an attempt to find my paternal grandfather, which garnered a lot of attention. I spoke to a man who had met my dad’s father a few times, but the last contact he had was in the 1980s, so he couldn’t provide further help. However, he did share that my grandfather lived in Dubai for a few years in the 1970s before returning to Bristol.

I hope to one day find my South Asian relatives, as there is much to learn about my heritage, including cultural aspects, health information, and family stories. Although I grew up in a different culture and sometimes feel it isn’t my place to immerse myself in another community’s culture, knowing more about my background has been valuable. At least now I know more than I did before.

– Cheyenne Smith