The moment Meera Sodha stepped off the plane in Entebbe, Uganda, the weight of decades pressed on her father, Raj. At 75, Raj had not returned to the country of his birth since leaving as a child. His resistance to go back was long-standing, shaped by a childhood marked by grief, hardship, and hunger. Now, he was here with his daughter, a Guardian food writer, on a journey into a past he had avoided for years.
The air in Uganda was thick with heat and the earth beneath them was rich and red, like dark terracotta. Meera reached for her camera and captured the moment, turning it towards her father’s face. “You’re back!” she said.
Raj’s return was not just a physical trip but an emotional one. For years, he had resisted the idea of coming back, carrying with him memories that were difficult to face. His childhood in Uganda had been shaped by loss and struggle, experiences that made the idea of returning almost unbearable. Yet, this trip was also a chance for connection, for Raj to confront a place that existed in his memory and imagination but had remained distant.
Meera’s account begins with that first step on Ugandan soil and the rush of recognition it brought. Uganda, she wrote, was in her blood, a country she had only ever known through stories and imagination until now. The journey was bittersweet, a mix of joy and pain, as father and daughter navigated the land Raj once called home.
Details of their travels in Uganda and the encounters they had remain private, but the significance of the trip for Raj and Meera is clear. It was a return to a place full of history, both personal and collective, and a confrontation with the past that Raj had long avoided.
This visit comes at a moment when many people are reexamining their connections to homeland and heritage. Raj’s story, told through Meera’s writing, adds a personal layer to that wider context. It shows how the past can weigh on individuals, shaping their identities and decisions decades later.
Meera Sodha’s reporting offers a rare glimpse into a journey that marries personal history with broader cultural memory. Her decision to accompany her father opened a door to understanding and reflection that might otherwise have remained closed.
Raj’s first return to Uganda after so many years was captured in that quiet moment on arrival, a scene frozen by a daughter’s camera and a simple declaration: “You’re back!”
According to The Guardian.
