'I moved to Yorkshire from India 60 years ago - the people were friendly and welcoming'

Originally, I came from a village in the state of Gujarat on the west coast of India and arrived in Batley in June 1963. Having flown from Heathrow with only two pounds and ten shillings in my pocket, I was worried about getting to Yorkshire. I got a ticket to Wakefield station and then another train to Dewsbury.

I had friends and relatives in Batley, which was clean and nice, and the people were helpful. In those days, there were many instances of racial discrimination, but the majority of people in the UK were open minded and showed tolerance to all persons of all cultures.

Eventually, I got a job at Birkby’s in a plastics factory at Liversedge making parts for cars, radios and televisions. I worked the night shift for five years and was elected shop steward for the Amalgamated Engineering Union.

What is your favourite part of Yorkshire?

If you get the train from Huddersfield to Oldham or Manchester, you see how beautiful the Yorkshire Pennines are. I’ve been to that area many times, and after leaving the job in Liversedge, I wanted to work for myself, so I bought a big truck. The M62 was being built in 1968 and I began working for the main constructor near Scamonden Dam and Reservoir.

What is your idea of a perfect day out in Yorkshire?

I’m fond of the Denby Dale area near Wakefield and like to go there to have a picnic. It has a natural beauty.

And what is your favourite walk?

If you go to Dewsbury, you can walk by the River Calder. The river flows by the walking area and on top of a hillside, the view is really stunning.

Which Yorkshire sportsperson, past or present, would you like to take out for lunch?

I love cricket and at the present time, I think the Yorkshire and England batsman, Joe Root, is outstanding. I like his consistency which is very important, and so many times in Tests, Joe has stood firm when wickets are falling at the other end.

What do you think it is that gives Yorkshire a unique identity?

There’s no doubt that Yorkshire people are friendly and welcoming, and when we came over from India, we were accepted. In that era in the 1960s, there were jobs in the textile industry in Dewsbury and Batley and it was easy to find work.

How has Yorkshire influenced your career?

Very much. The atmosphere here helped my writing because when you write poetry, it’s emotional, so people in Batley influenced my thinking.

My latest book - Our Heritage - is about the experiences of Muslim women who came to live in West Yorkshire, and if you read it, you’ll see they got much help from local people. They accepted us as new migrants.

As well as being a poet and a writer, I was president of the Kirklees Racial Equality Council in Huddersfield for seven years and later director of the Dewsbury Regeneration Project. I was also for many years a driving instructor.

I was really thrilled to be awarded the OBE because I came from a poor background, so to be recognised for my work in race and community relations was special. The Queen was fantastic. You’ve only got seven or eight seconds, but with me she took 19 seconds.

How has Yorkshire changed in the time you’ve known it?

Yorkshire and indeed the whole country has changed. When I first came in the early 1960s, you could get a job in textile mills or like myself in engineering. But now industry is declining and because of technology, the economy has been transformed. I think the community I come from is 100 per cent better off.

I didn’t have a dream in the 60s, only to earn a living. Now, the younger generation is getting an education and going into professional jobs. We are totally part of British life. Of my grandchildren, one is a barrister and the other a doctor.

So, in a short period of 60 years, they got opportunities having taken advantage of the education system.

Who is the Yorkshire person you admire the most?

There are many, I feel. One is definitely Sir John Harman who was leader of Kirklees Council from 1986 to 1999. He was also chairman of the Environment Agency between 2000 and 2008. I’d like also to mention two other politicians, Denis Healey, the former Labour Chancellor and Leeds MP and then Tracy Brabin, the elected Mayor of West Yorkshire. She’s a fantastic lady.

What is your favourite restaurant?

We used to go to Mumtaz, an Indian restaurant in Bradford. It’s on Great Horton Road near the Bradford Park Avenue cricket ground. The owners now have a place in Leeds of the same name.

These days in Bradford there are so many good places to choose, but back in the 1960s and 1970s, Mumtaz, still there, was famous.

Do you have a favourite food shop?

We are very fortunate in this area. Mullaco Foods in Oxford Street in Batley is excellent and sells all sorts of Asian food like spices and Halal meat, and the other place I’d like to mention is Abu Bakr, a supermarket at Blakeridge Mill in Batley. They’re in Leeds too.

Do you have a favourite Yorkshire writer or author?

Brian Lewis from Pontefract. This writer, poet, artist and publisher has written so many books and if you go to his home, you’ll see them all there. I have a good relationship with Brian.

He and I have a writing experiment with up to 15 and sometimes 20 people sitting in a room, and the idea is for them to write a book in two hours. For example, you can write on a river or the influence of your mother. After two hours, we collect the papers, type them up and print them into chapters. So, in the little matter of two hours, you’ve got a book with possibly 20 chapters in it.

If a stranger to Yorkshire had time to visit one place only, where would you take him or her?

A friend of mine, the editor of an Indian newspaper, came to Yorkshire and I took him to York. It’s so full of history, what with the Minster and the Roman walls.