Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2016 | Page 21

Interview

Photo: Mr Babu pictured at his family home with friends, family and colleagues from St Mary’s hospital
celebrating his 50th birthday

But he liked the look of the place right from the day he
came for an interview with the surgical consultant – and says
“everything fell into place”.
“I was nearly 38 when I came here, and it was a good
opening for me. Once you specialise, you can only get better”.
The move has also been good for family life, giving Mr Babu,
his wife Anupama Singh(who also works in the breast unit)
and sons Akshay and Aryan, time to enjoy being on the Island.
Akshay, 18 already looks set to follow a medical career,
having recently been offered a place at St George’s in London
to study surgery, whilst his 11 year-old brother is also showing
early interest.

Blending cultures
We do enjoy life on the Island. There’s such a good community
feeling - people are very friendly and the hospital is also a
friendly place to work” says Mr Babu.
He says there are even similarities between the Island and
his home country.
“They are glaringly different in a lot of ways of course, but
there’s so much in common: the family values are very strong

and there is a lot of warmth between people”.
Naturally there are things Mr Babu misses about India, but
he keeps up with family by visiting once a year – and he also
helps to bring some of the magic of the sub-continent to the
Island, by involving himself with cultural activities run by the
strong Hindu community here.
This includes the annual Diwali celebrations at Ryde’s
Smallbrook Stadium, which are enjoyed by everyone in the
community and grow more popular every year. Its success has
led to other festivals being celebrated such as Holi, the Hindu
Festival of Colours, which takes place in springtime and Eid
during the Ramadan.
“Everyone loves the colours and the costumes” says Mr
Babu, who gets into the spirit of the celebrations by singing
Bollywood-style and enjoying authentic Indian games such as
Kho-Kho and Kabaddi.
He loves the fact that the celebrations have been embraced
by the whole community on the Island – and says that to him,
it’s proof that he made the right decision in 2004 to make this
little corner of the world his home.

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