A BAFTA-NOMINATED writer has admitted he feels “terrified” about debuting his latest work, set to be staged in London from next month.
Vinay Patel, 32, is the writer behind An Adventure, which will run at the Bush Theatre from next Thursday (6).
Set across three continents, the story follows a young Indian couple as they journey from 1950s India to Kenya and finally, the UK.
Patel said he still feels anxious despite his success. “It is always terrifying,” he told Eastern Eye. “The day when you don’t feel like that is the day you should stop.”
One of the fastest rising stars in British writing, Patel created his first full length play True Brits in 2014. He went on to write critically acclaimed BBC drama Murdered By My Father two years later.
Another of his shows, Sticks and Stones, has just finished a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival before it goes on a nationwide tour. Last month, he was announced as one of the new writers for iconic sci-fi show Dr Who.
The new role was “very exciting”, Patel said, as he had grown up with an interest in science fiction. “I would watch Star Trek at the end of my dad’s bed as a kid,” he said, talking about his love for the genre.
Admitting he finds his success “really weird,” the playwright said his initial instinct is to run and hide from it. But he hopes to use his platform and visibility to encourage other young Asians to get involved in the arts.
“Trying to be there and present and not run from it too hard could make the path hopefully easier for people who come after me,” he explained. “I know when I was younger, if I had more Asians who were creative or more visible around me, it would have been so helpful.”
In the future, Patel hopes to establish a prize which honors south Asian playwrights. Inspired by the Alfred Fagon award, which recognises black British playwrights, his aim is to shine the “spotlight” on Asian writers with a prize in a similar vein.
Of Indian origin himself, Patel said he sees so many emerging British Asian writers and feels the need for something that can be a platform for them.
“You can also connect people coming through to people who have been doing that work for a while,” he said. “That connection feels rich.”
Growing up in Bexley, south-east London, Patel said he wrote “loads” at school. However, he admitted he was unsure about how to pursue the career path of a writer.
His family were not the creative kind, and besides a stint at school when he played in a band – and wrote lyrics for the music – he had few creative outlets as a teenager, he explained.
Being a creative person felt “really weird, really fancible and quite bluntly, really white,” Patel revealed. He did not see a clear path ahead of him concerning how to make his writing aspirations become a reality.
Eventually, he completed an MA in writing for stage and broadcast media at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Patel remembers it as a time to “f**k up stuff,” and “fail quietly rather than fail publicly”.
“It is about trying to get better and that is how you build resilience and build your art as well,” he said.
Looking back at the pivotal points in his career, Patel recalled the impact Murdered By My Father had on him personally. Starring Adeel Aktar and Kiran Sonia Sawar, the drama revolves around a young British-Pakistani girl pressured into an arranged marriage.
Initially shown on BBC Three, its success led the film to a more mainstream rebroadcast on BBC One. It was nominated for three Baftas, including Patel being selected as a 2016 Bafta Breakthrough Brit.
Charities dealing with the issue of so-called honour killings saw a spike in calls after the show aired, and police in training are shown the programme to spot signs of forced marriage in communities.
“You think about that and go, ‘there is a possibility the work we did here has the chance to change or even save people’s lives and that is a really powerful thing,” he said. “Those five months working on it were terrible, but the end goal is you get to change the world in a tiny little way, and that feels really majestic.”
On why he found the show so tough to work on, Patel revealed the “grim” plot was a major factor. Portraying a sensitive subject matter, which was meaningful for so many, was a big weight on his shoulders and he claimed it “really got to [his] soul”.
“It was grim, but it is what it is,” he said. “And if you can tell that story easily, you probably aren’t telling it in the right way.”
Talking about his recent work, Patel referred to the writing process of An Adventure as “magic”.
Patel revealed it was based loosely on his own grandparents’ experiences, saying he was aiming to create a cultural artefact of his elders and their generation.
“It is trying to capture the truth of them before they pass,” he said. “From the thing that set them out across the sea, to the things they gave up making it work to how they feel about it now that they are on the cusp of this world and another... tying it together in one narrative, that is the only real way you can get the truth of those people.”
Patel agreed the story was challenging to write, but he said he is happy with where it has concluded.
“We have got it to a truthful and really beautiful place,” he said.
An Adventure will run at the Bush Theatre in west London from September 6 to October 20. Sticks and Stones will tour nationwide until October 21.
VEERASWAMY, the UK's oldest Indian restaurant, is locked in a legal battle with the Crown Estate, which is seeking to evict it from its home at Victory House on Regent Street, where it has operated since 1926.
The Crown Estate wants to take back the building to renovate the upper-floor offices, which have remained empty since a flood in late 2023.
According to The Times, the plans include removing the wall that separates the restaurant’s entrance from the office entrance to create a larger reception area. The restaurant’s co-owner, Ranjit Mathrani of MW Eat, has said this would block access to Veeraswamy, effectively shutting it down.
Mathrani told The Times he had proposed several alternatives, such as sharing the entrance or giving up the first floor and retaining only the basement and mezzanine levels, but none had been accepted. “My dealings with the [Crown Estate] have been characterised by an uncompromising refusal to consider any change to their design plan,” he said in a court filing.
Veeraswamy pays around £205,000 in annual rent, and Mathrani has said he is willing to match the rent paid by future office tenants after renovation. Though initially open to relocating, he said the Crown Estate's claim of helping find a new site was “disingenuous”. “They’ve made no real attempt to find alternative sites for us,” he told The Times.
Veeraswamy’s lease expires at the end of June. However, MW Eat can continue to trade until the court hearing, expected in spring or early summer next year. If the court rules in its favour, the restaurant’s protected tenancy could allow a 14-year extension. If not, Mathrani hopes for a two-year lease to allow time for relocation. “If we lost, that would be our fallback, but moving sites will cost us about £5 million and therefore it is not our preferred option,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Crown Estate said: “We need to carry out a comprehensive refurbishment of Victory House to bring the building back into full use. We appreciate how upsetting this is for Veeraswamy and have offered to help find new premises elsewhere on our portfolio, having explored other options to accommodate the restaurant’s needs. We thank Veeraswamy and their customers for their contributions to the West End.”
Nearly a century on Regent Street
Veeraswamy was opened in 1926 by Edward Palmer, an Anglo-Indian and retired British Indian Army officer.
Located at 99-101 Regent Street, the restaurant has served regional Indian cuisine for decades, with dishes from Punjab, Lucknow, Kashmir and Goa.
It has long attracted royalty, political leaders and celebrities. Past diners include Winston Churchill, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Charlie Chaplin, and King Gustav VI of Sweden.
Ownership and Michelin recognition
In 1997, the restaurant was acquired by Ranjit Mathrani and Namitha Panjabi. They restored its interiors and integrated it into their MW Eat group.
In 2016, Veeraswamy received a Michelin star. Inspectors noted that it continued to serve “classic dishes from across the country” with care and professionalism.
Historical roots
Before opening Veeraswamy, Edward Palmer had started EP Veeraswamy & Co. in 1896 to promote Indian food in Britain.
In 1924, he advised the Indian Government Pavilion restaurant at the British Empire Exhibition, which served around 500 curries a day.
Veeraswamy was not the first Indian restaurant in the UK, but it was among the first high-end ones and has remained at its Regent Street location for 99 years.
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The airline said the aircraft landed safely and was being inspected 'as a matter of abundant precaution'.
AN AIR INDIA Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner flying from Hong Kong to New Delhi returned to Hong Kong shortly after takeoff on Monday due to a suspected technical issue.
This incident comes days after an Air India flight to London, also a Boeing 787-8, crashed in Ahmedabad just after takeoff, killing 241 of the 242 people on board.
Air India said in a statement on Monday that flight AI315 returned to Hong Kong due to "a technical issue", but did not provide further details.
The airline said the aircraft landed safely and was being inspected "as a matter of abundant precaution".
Recordings on the air traffic control website LiveATC.net, reviewed by Reuters, captured a pilot telling air traffic controllers about 15 minutes after takeoff, “for technical reasons, sir, we would like to stay closer to Hong Kong, maybe we will come back and land back into Hong Kong once we sort out the problem.” “We don’t want to continue further,” the pilot added before the plane returned.
The aircraft returned to Hong Kong International Airport after requesting a local standby at around 1 p.m. (0500 GMT) and “landed safely at around 1:15 p.m.”, according to a spokesperson for Airport Authority Hong Kong.
The spokesperson said airport operations were not affected.
Flight tracking website AirNav Radar showed that flight AI315 took off from Hong Kong around 12:20 p.m., climbed to 22,000 feet and then began to descend. The plane was seven years old.
Boeing and Air India did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Hong Kong–New Delhi flight.
Last week’s crash has added to the challenges facing Air India, which has been working to revamp its fleet, and Boeing, which has been trying to regain public trust after a series of safety and production issues.
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Starmer said earlier on Sunday that he had dropped his initial opposition to a national inquiry in favour of one being led by Louise Casey, a member of the parliament’s upper house. (Photo: Getty Images)
AUTHORITIES have announced a nationwide police operation targeting grooming gangs suspected of sexually exploiting thousands of girls and young women over several decades.
The announcement came hours after prime minister Keir Starmer said a national inquiry would be launched into the scandal, which recently drew attention from Elon Musk.
“The National Crime Agency, the UK’s most senior investigating agency, will carry out a nationwide operation to target predators who have sexually exploited children as part of a gang and put them behind bars,” the Home Office said in a statement.
Home secretary Yvette Cooper said more than 800 grooming gang cases had already been identified by police.
The Home Office said the crackdown aims to deliver “long-awaited justice and prevent more children from being hurt by these vile criminals”.
Starmer said earlier on Sunday that he had dropped his initial opposition to a national inquiry in favour of one being led by Louise Casey, a member of the parliament’s upper house.
The scandal became widely known as official reports revealed long-term sexual exploitation in multiple parts of England.
Men, often of Pakistani origin, were found to have targeted mostly white girls from disadvantaged backgrounds, including some in children’s homes.
The gangs were active in towns and cities including Rotherham and Rochdale in the north, as well as Oxford and Bristol, over nearly four decades.
The issue gained international attention in January after Musk used his X platform to criticise the UK government for not backing a national inquiry.
According to the Home Office, the new police operation will investigate cases that had not previously progressed.
It will also examine how local agencies failed the victims and aim to improve how local police handle such allegations. The Home Office said the operation would help end the “culture of denial” within local services and authorities regarding the scale of the crime.
(With inputs from agencies)
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The airline did not provide details on the departure time, number of passengers or crew on board, or how long the flight was in the air before returning. (Representational image: Getty Images)
A BRITISH AIRWAYS flight bound for Chennai returned to London mid-air on Sunday after reporting a technical issue.
The airline said the aircraft landed safely and passengers and crew disembarked normally. “The aircraft returned to Heathrow as a standard precaution after reports of a technical issue,” British Airways said in a statement.
The airline did not provide details on the departure time, number of passengers or crew on board, or how long the flight was in the air before returning.
Live flight tracking data from Flightradar24.com showed that British Airways flight BA35 was scheduled to depart at 12.40 pm and arrive in Chennai at 3.30 am. The Boeing 787-8 aircraft departed from London Heathrow at 1.16 pm, following a delay of more than 35 minutes.
According to the website, the flight remained airborne for nearly two hours before returning to London. It also flew in multiple holding patterns before landing at Heathrow.
“Our teams are working hard to get their journeys back on track as soon as possible,” British Airways added.
Meanwhile, a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to Hyderabad also turned back mid-air on Sunday, Flightradar24.com showed. The reason for the diversion was not known.
Flight LH752, operated by a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, departed from Frankfurt at 14.29 instead of its scheduled departure time of 13.05 pm. The flight was due to arrive in Hyderabad at 1.20 am, according to the website.
In the wake of the tragic plane crash in Ahmedabad on June 12, London came together in an emotional outpouring of grief and unity at the Siddhashram Shakti Centre in Harrow. Over two solemn days, the revered spiritual haven hosted a series of powerful ceremonies led by His Holiness Rajrajeshwar Guruji, drawing together faith leaders, public figures, and residents from across communities.
On the day of the tragedy, Guruji led a spiritually charged recitation of the Hanuman Chalisa 12 times, joined by a team of spiritual practitioners from India. The prayer created a deep atmosphere of collective mourning and healing.
“Prayer is our greatest strength in the face of such loss,” Guruji said. “We do not grieve as Hindus, Muslims, or Christians — we grieve as one humanity.”
The prayer service was attended by several distinguished figures, including Gareth Thomas MP, Minister for Services, Small Businesses and Exports.
Two days later, on June 14, Siddhashram partnered with the Harrow Interfaith Forum to host a candlelight vigil — a remarkable expression of unity, attended by representatives of Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, Jain, Jewish, and Zoroastrian communities. Children from the temple led the lighting of candles, setting the tone for an evening of shared sorrow, solidarity, and prayer.
Key dignitaries included:
Simon Ovens DL, Representative of His Majesty King Charles III, who read a message of royal condolence and described the gathering as a reflection of “true British compassion.”
Cllr Anjana Patel, Worshipful Mayor of Harrow, who spoke with visible emotion as a member of the grieving Gujarati community.
Bob Blackman CBE, MP for Harrow East, offered messages of comfort and pledged support for those affected.
Kareema Marikar, former Harrow Mayor, recited a heartfelt Muslim prayer.
Mahavir Foundation’s Nita Sheth and Mukesh Kapashi, who led Jain prayers.
Bobbi Reisel, Jewish representative from Bereavement Care Harrow, who offered messages of solace.
Dorab Mistry, representing the Zoroastrian community, and
Gopal Singh Bhachu, Chair of Harrow Interfaith Forum, who led Sikh prayers with fellow community leaders.
PC Elaine Jackson, Met Police Faith Officer, attended in support of the event’s interfaith spirit.
Attendees travelled from across the UK, including Leicester, to be present. Musicians lifted spirits through devotional melodies, and volunteers ensured all were cared for on a sweltering summer day.
The Siddhashram Shakti Centre, long a sanctuary for spiritual guidance and community healing, once again stood at the heart of London’s collective conscience. As Guruji reflected, “In our unity, we find peace, in prayer, we carry the light of those we lost.”