Comedian, columnist, broadcaster and peer of the House of Lords, Baroness Ayesha Hazarika MBE, reminisces with Stephen about being the child of first-generation migrants. Ayesha talks about the pressure to succeed and the challenges of cultural integration while staying true to your roots. How to navigate Quran lessons, Scottish country dance classes and elocution training on very busy Saturday mornings in rural Lanarkshire. We hear about how Ayesha got her parents’ approval when she was awarded her MBE, and crucially, appeared on the Andrew Marr Show. Baroness Hazarika talks about her parents’ bravery in moving half-way across the world in their twenties and hopes that some of that courage has rubbed off on her.

Baroness Ayesha Hazarika MBE can regularly be seen and heard on television and radio and is a frequent contributor to print media.

00:00 Intro to Me? I Blame The Parents.

00:39 Stephen K Amos introduces, comedian, columnist, broadcaster and peer of the House of Lords, Baroness Ayesha Hazarika MBE.

01:09 Ayesha Hazarika recalls growing up in Lanarkshire, Scotland, as the daughter of first generation Indian Muslim migrants.

02:34 Baroness Hazarika jokes about the pressure she felt to succeed in what seemed like an academic hostage situation.

05:10 Trying to be traditional to her roots but also to integrate, Ayesha talks about attending Quran lessons and Scottish country dance classes on Saturday mornings.

07:29 Ayesha and Stephen discuss how their parents failed to teach the kids their native tongues, mostly so they could secretly gossip about them behind their backs.

08:43 We learn about Ayesha’s father, a GP from Assam, India, and how he took a job in Liverpool over an offer in Los Angeles because he was a fan of the Beatles.

09:29 Ayesha’s father wanted her to be a great writer so he would sit her down to write 100 words on any random subject. Little did she know, those skills would help in her career as a columnist.

14:56 Ayesha never had the sex talk and if any such scenes came on Telly, her dad would lunge for the remote control and banish the kids from the room.

16:55 Ayesha speaks of when she appeared on the Andrew Marr Show and was awarded her MBE, her parents were very proud of her.

24:05 We hear a beautiful story about Ayesha seeing an expensive set of earrings while window shopping, which her parents surprised her with on Christmas day.

28:14 Ayesha admires the bravery of her parents relocating to the UK from Assam in their twenties, and how she hopes she has inherited her courage from them.

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