28th Picture

Supporting LFC has been a life long passion of mine and I’ll be eternally grateful to Hanson Jerome. If it hadn’t been for him I’m not sure I would be a Liverpool fan today.

The story goes back to 1977 and it’s a week or two before the FA cup final. That years final was the two teams you see in today’s picture; Liverpool FC v Manchester Utd.

To fully explain this store we have to go back to the previous year’s FA cup final between Manchester Utd v Southampton. My older brother Surinder was a big Man U fan and as any younger brother I wanted to follow in his foot steps, but thankfully he refused to allow me to support the same time that he was supporting.  

So back to the story of 1977 FA cup final and Hanson Jerome. Somehow he had managed to smuggle a bottle of Cider into our junior school and was offering a free drink to anyone who supported Liverpool FC. I had no idea what the drink was that he had in his hands, but as there was a long line of eager kids waiting patiently for a swig I knew it had to be good. So I joined the queue and waited my turn.

He asked everyone the same question before allowing them a drink; “do you support Liverpool FC?”

So eventually when it was my turn to take a drink he asked me the same question and instantly I said yes and I’ve been a true fan ever since.

A week or two later we lost in the final to Man U, however a couple of days later we went on to win the European cup for the first time in our history.

Ammo

27th Picture

Although this picture is of The Baltic International Food Store in Armthorpe, I used the picture to signify immigration in general.

As the son of an immigrant myself, clearly my views of this topic will differ from most but I think I have a better understanding of the topic because I have experienced it first hand.

My dad first came to this country back in the late 50’s. 

Before I continue the story I want you try to put yourself in his shoes just for a few moments. Imagine yourself in your late 30’s early 40’s and you decide to move to a new country. You can’t speak the language; you don’t know anyone there; you have little or no money; all in the hope of making a better life for yourself.

 

Would you take such a huge gamble in the remote chance you’ll make a better life for yourself than the one you left behind?

This is a question I’ve asked myself on many occasions and to be honest I think my answer would have to be no.

Anyway back to my dad’s story.

He came to this country with only a couple of pounds to his name, and his original plan was to make some money and go back to India to set up a family business.

To achieve his goals he worked two different jobs, both were in mill factories in Huddersfield. (This story isn’t unique to my dad, most immigrants are prepared to work this hard to try and make a future for themselves and their families, and I think this is one of the reasons why employers are so keen to hire them. that work ethic is a very rare commodity).

Very soon he had enough money and he moved back to India where indeed he did set up a family business. And there he would have stayed had circumstances outside his control not forced him back to England.

On a personal note I’m very glad he came back. I can’t imagine how my life would have turned out had I still lived in India.

Ammo

26th Picture

This is my beautiful wife Sharan. It’ll be our silver wedding anniversary in August.

As with most marriages we’ve had our good and bad spell, but what is important as that we’ve got through them together and hopefully it’s has made us a stronger couple as a consequence.

What some of you may not be aware of is that ours was an arranged marriage. Before I continue let me just explain that in most Indian marriages arranged does not mean forced.

What tends to happen in most cases is that a mutual friend/relative who knows the boys and girls family will try to pair up what they think will be a suitable couple. These match makers will look at the boys and girls personalities as well as the family traditions, values and ethos. The matchmaker will then approach each family and recommend a suitable partner for their son/daughter. It’s very much like a computer dating albeit with humans.

Shaz and I had about a 15 minute meet before we married, it’s not enough time to get to know each other but in our case we had a wonderful matchmaker and luckily it’s worked out for the best. But at any stage before the marriage and either one of us could have said no.

Apart from her crap taste in music, she is by far the best thing that’s ever happened to me. But I must say she really did win the lottery when I said yes.

Ammo

25th Picture

This is how I spend a couple of day every other month. This is the Meridian and Welsh Guild Board and as a collective we represent 1048 Spar stores. We usually meet about five times a year and discuss different issues that affect our day to day operations, things like Stock availabilities, IT issues, Distribution…etc.

I am also the Vice Chair of this board and as such I represent our Guild at the national level and take any issues that we can’t or don’t deal with at a local level to the next level.

It’s can be challenging at time but at the same time it can also be very rewarding as things you’ve fought hard for finally come into fruition.

Ammo

24th Picture

This must be one of the most beautiful pictures I’ve ever taken. The joy on her face is genuine and it’s because she’s about to become a mother for the first time.

This is my friend Emma and she is expecting twins. She has about 8 weeks to go (not sure she’ll last the full distant) and Shaz and I couldn’t be more pleased for her and her husband.

I’m sure for most (if not all) expectant mothers, during the latter stages of the pregnancy must be a double edged sword. One the one hand you must be very anxious to make sure your baby is ok and on the other hand it’s also a very exciting time at the thought of all the happiness your baby will bring into your life.  

I remember when Shaz was pregnant with both sets of our twins; I’d spend ages talking to them. Not sure they understood or even heard me but I wanted to make that connection with them as early as possible.

The actual births were a bit of a blur, and I can’t remember much about what happened. I can only really describe it in feelings and the overwhelming feeling was of joy!

To know the bundle of joy you’re holding in your arms is your own flesh and blood is emotionally indescribable. To also know you are now responsible not only for yourself but a totally helpless human being is daunting to say the least.

And as time goes on, and your children reach different stages of their lives and each one is a challenge and a blessing in equal measures it forces you to grow as a human being.

For us our next stage is to see our girls have children and us to take on the role of grandparents. As for Emma her journey into motherhood is just about to start and we wish her all the luck in the world.

Ammo