Island Life Magazine Ltd June/July 2009 | Page 111

FOOD & DRINK

Jilah liked it here, though, and set about setting
up his own restaurant, with help from the helpful
bank manager at NatWest. “I like the lifestyle
on the Island, and the people are really nice.
Portsmouth was quite racial – whereas I’ve never
had to call the police to the Nabab in 19 years.”
He and his wife, Khatun, married 15 years ago
in London. They have three children, aged 14, 10
and nine. Jilah was born in Bangladesh in 1970,
though his father came to the UK in 1956, leaving
Jilah’s mother at home with him and his two
brothers, and returned to them three times a year.
Eventually he brought the family over, to Luton,
before moving to Portsmouth.
When Jilah married he had to leave Khatun living
in his father’s house in Portsmouth, and for seven
years he travelled to see her three times a week.
Now they live in Newport. Jilah’s was an arranged
marriage, and he seems vaguely amused at the
suspicion Westerners have for such a tradition.
“We believe whatever the father and mother do
or say – we trust them. In our culture we work
as a team. There has never been a divorce in our
family.” Negotiating the arranged marriage took
three years, he says. He was shown pictures of

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Khatun before he met her.
His family is the motivation that makes him work
so hard. “Yes, my wife works – she is a housew