How Sri Lankan culture strengthened my work as a GP

As we celebrate South Asian Heritage Month, I reflect on a question that I often find difficult to answer: where am I from?

I was born in Canterbury and raised in North London. However, my parents emigrated to this country from Sri Lanka in the early 1980s, so I am technically a second generation Sri Lankan. While most of my friends went to Cornwall, Disney World or France for their summer holidays, I always visited Sri Lanka for my summer holidays as my grandparents and extended family were all there.

In many ways, Sri Lanka was like a second home. I was immersed in Sri Lankan culture from a young age, not just at home but viscerally on the streets of Colombo and Jaffna. Growing up as a Sri Lankan exposes you to different cultural practices, beliefs and religions. My parents are Christians, but they often fondly recall celebrating Eid, Buddhist holidays and Hindu festivities with their friends and neighbours. I have fond memories of helping my Hindu relatives with temple celebrations. My mum would take me to her favourite restaurant in Colombo for biriyani - which had been owned by a Sri Lankan Muslim family for generations.

Finding my own Sri Lankan inspiration

This openness and acceptance of different cultures and religions was commonplace in Colombo, and this has helped me tremendously as a doctor when connecting with patients from different faiths, backgrounds and cultures. Understanding cultural differences develops patience and empathy within daily practice.

As a teenager whilst struggling with my identity as a second-generation Sri Lankan (and fluctuating hormones) I was inspired by the Sri Lankan cricket team. Their iconic win in the 1996 world cup final when I was 13 profoundly shaped me as a person. Seeing players who looked like me (and their long surnames proudly displayed on the back of their cricket shirts) achieving the very top of their field with style, swagger and panache tapped into my heart and mind, strengthening what my Sri Lankan heritage meant to me. Sporting achievements inspire us all (look at Team GB’s success at the 2012 Olympics, for example), but to see the Sri Lankan national cricket team achieve the pinnacle of their sport inspired me to be the best doctor I can be. Representation in all spheres of our lives is important. To quote Denzel Washington, “If you don’t see it, how can you aspire to be it?”

The importance of South Asian Heritage Month

Growing up, I experienced varying degrees of racism and microaggressions. I remember wearing a Sri Lankan cricket shirt to school one day and one of the other kids asked me “Where do your loyalties lie, England or Sri Lanka?” It never occurred to them that I can be both!

Meanwhile, as a medical student a fellow student asked me whether James was my in fact my real name... Sadly, these microaggressions continue to this day. This is why celebrating and championing South Asian Heritage Month is incredibly important for me as a doctor.

As I started my medical career, I was blessed to have my father and great uncle - both ENT surgeons - as mentors. My great uncle Dr Anthony Gabriel was a prominent Head and Neck Surgeon in Sri Lanka throughout my early years at medical school. His passion for medicine and work ethic inspired me to work hard. I will never forget his tips and pearls of wisdom, mostly told over breakfast whilst eating fresh mangoes brought in that day from our family’s farm just outside Colombo.

My father served the NHS for over 40 years and was fiercely proud of his Sri Lankan heritage. His openness and boldness empowered me to be comfortable with my South Asian, Sri Lankan heritage. He introduced me to Sri Lankan medical associations and volunteered extensively for the registered charity “Nuffield School for the Deaf and Blind” in Sri Lanka, which helped children who had traumatic hearing loss secondary to bombs and landmines.

Honouring my heritage and family legacy

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The essence of all great heritage is not in the grandeur of its monuments, but in the values it imparts to its people.”

Watching my father work in the UK and Sri Lanka helped me to embrace my Sri Lankan heritage. I ultimately realised that I had a Sri Lankan legacy to honour and carry on, thanks to the tireless work of my father and my great uncle.

My Sri Lankan heritage and values that have been imparted upon me by multiple generations of family and friends have invariably shaped me as a doctor and a person. South Asian Heritage Month is a time to celebrate what makes us unique, and to encourage and inspire one another in our daily lives.