'I arrived in a freezing UK winter, aged seven'

Tara Mistry's book "No Speak English" tells the story of her family's migration

A British Asian author has published a memoir tracing her family's migration from India to the UK in the 1960s.

Tara Mistry, 69, said she called the memoir "No Speak English" as it was the phrase her grandfather taught her to say "for protection" after she travelled with her family to begin life in a new country, aged seven.

Born in Kenya, Ms Mistry moved to India with her family when she was 18 months old, growing up in a small village before migrating to England.

Ms Mistry, of Brislington, Bristol, said her book was a personal account of the challenges that shaped her early life.

"We got on a boat on Christmas Eve and arrived 17 days later in the freezing cold 1962 – one of the worst winters in history," she said.

"My book's called No Speak English for a reason," she told BBC Radio Bristol.

"When we got on the boat, my grandad said 'you must learn this phrase, it's for protection.'"

Under the British Nationality Act 1948, people from the Commonwealth (including India and East Africa) were considered British subjects and had the right to settle in the UK.

This meant that Indians and East-African Indians could legally migrate to Britain without needing visas and as a result, the early 1960s saw increasing migration from former colonies.

Ms Mistry and her family arrived in England during one of the coldest winters on record

Ms Mistry's memoir explores themes of identity and belonging, reflecting on how race, religion, language and culture affected her childhood.

Ms Mistry said her family encountered widespread racism after settling in Leicester, at a time when anti-immigration sentiment was strong.

"Leicester was very volatile in lots of ways at the time because it was very clear that they didn't want more people to come in and that did lead to a lot of tension," she said.

"I used to worry about going to school and leaving my long hair in a plait because you used to have those rumours that the Teddy Boys would cut off your hair."

Ms Mistry's were part of a wave of migrants who came from India to the UK in the 1960s

Her family lived in a working-class neighbourhood where, she said, day-to-day life "was a struggle for survival".

While some neighbours were welcoming, others were openly hostile.

"We were called all sorts of names," she recalled.

"We grew up with the signs of 'No Blacks, No Irish, No Dogs'."

At home, Ms Mistry said she navigated additional challenges.

Her father held traditional views and expected his daughters to follow a gendered upbringing.

But as more Indian immigrants from East Africa moved into the area - many who valued education for girls - attitudes in the community began to shift.

After her father's death, Ms Mistry adopted a more liberal approach and encouraged her daughter to pursue education.

Ms Mistry says the current debate around migration reminds her of previous tensions around race

Ms Mistry also became involved in the anti-racism movement of the 1970s, went to university, and worked both in the probation service and as a lecturer.

She moved to Bristol in 1982, shortly after the St Paul's Riot, which erupted in 1980 after a police raid on a local café.

Ms Mistry said she saw echoes of the tensions she lived through as a child in the UK's current debates around migration.

"The climate now does remind me of the early 1970s, the late 1960s," she said.

"The new stuff that's going on, all the recent migration and the polarisation in this country takes me back to those days.

"And we're fearful, because you could be walking along the street and nobody knows your history.

"They tarnish everybody with this sort of illegality, and the meaning of refuge and asylum is totally lost now."

Ms Mistry said she hopes her book will provide an insight into understanding the lives of South Asian people in Britain, and internationally.