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Bernie Gracias
Bernie Gracias, born in Nairobi (Kenya), moved to the UK after Kenyan independence
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About
Bernie Gracias was born in Nairobi (Kenya) in 1953. In 1973 he left Kenya and arrived in the UK, where he first lived in South Norwood with family.
Bernie Gracias was interviewed in 2012 by Selma Carvalho for 'Oral Histories of British Goans from Colonial East Africa'. Between 2011 and 2014 the Goan Association UK co-ordinated a project to record oral histories of the Goan Community living in the United Kingdom. This project was funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and was managed by Selma Carvalho. Carvalho published a book based on the interviews titled A Railway Runs Through: Goans of British East Africa, 1865–1980 (Matador, 2014). The interviews are archived at the British Library under collection reference number C1557. Bernie Gracias' interview is British Library reference C1557/32, © The Goan Association.
Listen to Bernie talking about Kenyan independence and migrating to the UK in search of a better life.
Interview conducted by Selma Carvalho, 2012.
SC: As Kenya moved towards its independence, did you notice any changes?
BG: Yes, the Africans certainly became more assertive. You know, they were determined that they were going to have the top jobs. And they were making life, I think, quite hard for Europeans. Maybe not so much for the Asians, more the Europeans initially, I think.
SC: And what would have been sort of the general chatter within the Goan community, or within your own house about Kenyan independence?
BG: Well, everybody was really afraid that they were going to lose their jobs, what were we going to do and...you know, that was when everybody started leaving and coming to England, which was sad really, because we had a lovely life there. As you know, my grandparents were there, my parents, my aunts, uncles, all the cousins. My grandfather had ten children, he had twenty-five grandchildren. And they...he had a big house in Parklands, and all of us used to go to his place on a Sunday and congregate there, and there was twenty-five of us playing in the garden round the house every Sunday, and it was wonderful. So all that just came to an end when...at independence, when everybody started going in different directions.
SC: And so what were the factors that made you decide to leave Nairobi?
BG: I decided to come to England for a better life, I suppose. And I came in 1973.
SC: And where did you land?
BG: I landed with my aunt and uncle in South Norwood. And...
SC: And what were your first impressions on landing here?
BG: I sort of felt totally lost in a strange country. And I missed Kenya, yeah, sort of, it was sad. You know, I felt homesick, I wanted to go back.
SC: And what factors do you think helped you to assimilate into the society?
BG: Probably the fact that I was brought up speaking English. I went to school with European children, so I had a good command of the English language, I was able to associate with them. So I didn't really have any problems.
SC: Now, what was your social life like once you arrived in the UK?
BG: Initially, it was just very quiet. You know, and it was…the winter was soon upon us and it was cold, so it was go to work and come home and sit down in the warm house. My first experience of snow was on Easter Sunday, believe it or not, we were about a foot deep in snow, and I think that was in 1974.
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Entry credit
Laura Owen
