One Year Later…

Thursday 4th of July 2019, the sun was shining down and I was getting ready to wear my new baby blue suit and to head to the place I called my school for 4 years to Graduate. This blog is all my thoughts and things I can remember doing since graduation in the last year. So it won’t be chronological but will give you a view of what I have been doing :)

A day that my parents and big brother were emotional about, my drama teacher who supported me through it all came with a gorgeous gift of a Shakespeare anthology, my best friends Natalie and Ross came to cheer me on. I was emotional and scared and excited and ready for the challenge ahead. I made great friends and was leaving behind a pillow I had comfort in for 4 years, leaving the bed to head off into the real world.

Getting my scroll and then being cheered as I accepted the Principals award, then heading to the steps for a stream of pictures before dinner with my loved ones. It was a great sunny day that I was not thinking about what was to come. It is a day that really brought to the end a journey to follow a dream. I had achieved a dream to go to drama school, I started in college as an actor, I entered drama school thinking I was just an actor, but I left the RCS with more skills than I ever thought of. I got the experience of facilitating in schools, a hospice and in a prison setting. I met artists and grew a network I didn’t know was there. Graduation was a day of smiles seeing everyone look great, a day of sadness saying bye to friends of 4 years and more but also nervous/exciting, not knowing what the next chapter would be. But a day I will always remember.

One thing I knew for sure on graduation was that I can’t sit and wait for the work. Ever since I spoke to my lecturer in college, I realised that I am in an industry where the work won’t come knocking at my door, I would need to go find it myself. And I was ready for the challenges ahead!

 Since graduating, it has been a real weird time. I have taken trips to London, LA and New York. Meeting new people and old friends. Enjoying a break at times but also I didn’t.

The first thing I did do after graduation however was take a few days break up north to stay with my best friend and fellow actor Ross. It was nice to disconnect and go out of the city after a busy year. I took a break from social media and relaxed with the gorgeous nature surroundings.

I have since graduating gone into acting as well as I felt I would never make it as just a performance artist. I have auditioned so much but realised that being Asian or a POC in the arts is just a tick box exercise. There is a lack of roles and then all the people that go for the lack of roles means so many go for one role.

 I spent the whole month of August at my 3rd Edinburgh Fringe Festival working as Box Office Sales Assistant. It was a tough month with accomodation but I had the best support in my amazing friend Anna Rea who supported me through out the month. We got great accomodations in the end. I also broke my personal record of shows. Seeing 59 shows across 4 festivals. I met one of my favourite authors, Malorie Blackman, which was an amazing experience. The Fringe is a great experience, the amount of art and creative work on in one city is just fabulous. Seeing so many friends doing so many different types of work. It is a place I hope one day to perform, But I do love my box office family I have to say <3

I was lucky enough to get a job but it was a tough hard job. Elfingrove was a month I wouldn’t forget as it went through terrible reviews. But I made new friends and strengthened older friendships. But playing a DJ elf then a Drag Elf was not as fun as it sounded. This is a job I will never forget!

I got to be in a BBC short film called “Haggis” with my friend Victoria and her company. It was launched for Burns Night and was a great time filming it. Sadly I never got to see it on launch night as I was in NYC. But when I did get to see it, it was such a cosy wee film, and Victoria is such a great filmmaker!

 I won money for the Make It Happen Fund for my show “Ask Me If I’m Okay”. A show I did during my final bridge week about Male Suicide and the South Asian Community. I was really excited to get further into the work with my friends and collaborators. I have been doing alot of deep research within this topic which hasn’t been easy but has been neccessary.

I also was awarded a small pot of funding to start a new work in progress “Trying to Stop A Tidal Wave” about Dyslexia and the south Asian community. This show came about as an Idea during a workshop with artist Vijay Patel whilst I was in Brighton. It was a great workshop and Vijay is a brilliant artist whose work I really am inpsired by. This show began from one exercise at the workshop and now is a new work in progress.

It has been great since graduating however for taking time to write and be more creative, I have been taking it easier and putting myself first. I realised who the true friends are and the ones that were only people I studied with also. But I wouldn’t change my time and the people I met, as I learnt alot from them.

I was also elected on a 2 year term to the Equity Scottish National Committee where I was the first young LGBT POC member for a long time. I was the first ever delegate that Equity had to the STUC Black Workers Conference and also to the Young Members but it was cancelled due to coronavirus. Being involved in equity has been a great time for learning and seeing how the union supports artists but also seeing the failings of the union too and how as members our voices are pretty strong.

 I also got another hosting gig which was for Aunty Suraya. It was a charity gig and was the best bellydance ever.

It hasn’t been easy though. I have had to go through auditions and self-tapes and constantly read “unsuccessful”.  I’ve become apart of a commission by Equity to address its institutional racism. I have seen friendships change. I have seen friends lose jobs and also leave Glasgow. It hasn’t been an easy journey, but it has all been learning.

Graduating with a job in the arts is never easy. This year I was so excited to be back at the Mela for a 2nd year hosting as it was also the 30th anniversary. I also was asked to host Into the New 2020 which was such a big honour. I was meant to be ushering more and rehearsing my shows.

All stopped thanks to the Coronavirus Pandemic. It has been a real game changer. We have seen the first ever lockdown in my time, with all work stopping and people working from home.

 It has been a real learning curve for the arts world as it was the first to close and will be the last to open.

But since lockdown I have met weekly with my bestie Sinead and done creative tasks. I have connected with other artists, I have self-taped, I have written more, I have auditioned and just tried to stay positive with my mental health as work has stopped. I have been truly thankful to meet and be mentored by Anjali Mya Chadha, who is an actor and dramaturg and Artistic Associate at Tara Arts, a company I have followed for years. She is such an inspiring artist who has made me feel very comfortable in the arts during lockdown. Through Anjali I was ivited to guest facilitate Tea with Tara, a safe space for South Asian artists to come and speak. I did this along with the fabulous Renu Arora who is such a positive light I am glad to speak more with after being friends on facebook for 4 years!

Lockdown has made me feel less lonely in the arts. I have met a huge network of south asian artists. Thanks to Aarti Shah, bringing together and putting together work and callouts for south asian artists. I have got involved in a south asian scratch night thanks to Yusuf Niazi! I am so excited to be working on a piece beautifully written by the gorgeous Saaj Raja, directed by the talented Gavin Joesph and so great to be working alongside the friendliest co-star Tarish Patel. A real new community I am so thankful to have met. There are so many people to name but not enough space and I know I will forget someone! But in Glasgow being south asian in the arts can feel pretty lonely. There are issues when it comes to Diversity, because I feel south asian voices still are not fully heard in the arts in Scotland and the UK as a whole. I feel there is a whole chat to have about diversity too. So I am really thankful to the networks I have met and this wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for Lockdown. So there is a silver lining to it I guess.

Thanks to these new networks and family I suppose, I have been able to get strong teams together for my new shows in development. And I can’t say enough how thankful I am to them!

Other things happened during lockdown and since graduation is I have taken to really getting involved in my writing and text making. I was really happy to have been chosen to run a writing workshop for the Scottish BAME Writers Network. That was such a great experience and learning involved. I am also being mentored by playwright Rikki Beadle-Blair to write a new original monologue for POC to use in auditions which has been a real dream!

I have taken part in workshops with artists such as Leyla Joesphine, Imaginate and also my Embassy Gradjob has gone online too.

It has been a crazy amazing year since graduation. I feel like I haven’t stopped but I have enjoyed that. I went to one of the best Doctor Who Conventions in LA, I went to a city I have always wished to, NYC, and met old RCS friends Bea, Tara, Caroline, Spencer, Eric and Tierney. It was a great experience. I saw the last performance of Waitress the Musical in London with Sara Barielles, which turned out the be the last performance in London!

We are currently in a weird time and I feel that the Industry will change as we go forawrd. But I worried it would be tough in this industry, but we have to continue to put our skills out there. I send love and best wishes to the Class of 2020. It isn’t an easy time coming into the world of work but we have to come together, support eachother and build a strong industry when we return. This is a time to use the stories of this generation going forward.

It has been a year of learning and growing and it never stops no matter what age you are. There have been negatives but I am not focusing on that. They aren’t what has made this year. They have taught me alot, but it is the positives I have been learning alot from. I can’t be here today if it wasn’t for RCS and a big thank you to some of my coursemates, my amazing lecturers through the years and also to staff on different courses who helped me.

My journey to RCS wasn’t just an audition, it was a couple of years of short courses. Because coming from a working class background, I never would have got there if it wasn’t for the support of the short courses department. A big thank you to Mona Keeling for being a support these past few years on my journey. I now also work in short courses!

I came into this industry with just a basket, hoping to fill it with goodies. But I am currently in the aisles going from a basket to a trolley. And we just have to leave with a Trolley over a basket.

This blog may not have made sense, but I am truly thankful to the people who have made this a great year and I am excited for the future of the connections that have been made!

Thank you to everyone who has been such a great support in this journey. 1 year on and I am still learning!

4/7/20