What South Asian Heritage Month’s ‘Unity in Diversity’ means to me
Published: 31 July 2026
South Asian Heritage Month gives us a moment each year to pause and celebrate the extraordinary breadth of cultures, histories and experiences that sit under one broad label, “South Asian community.” This year’s theme, Unity in Diversity, feels particularly fitting for pharmacy, a profession built on caring for people from every background, while also bringing together colleagues who carry their own histories and lived experience into the workplace. As co-founder of the Female Pharmacy Leaders Network and someone who has spent years thinking about what real inclusion looks like in our sector, this theme has given me plenty to reflect on.
“South Asian” spans eight countries and centuries of distinct histories, yet it’s easy to treat it as one experience. I thought I understood India’s diversity growing up in London’s East African Gujarati community, until I met my husband. His family are Keralan Christians, tracing their roots to Syrian Christian missionaries who arrived in India in the 9th century, with entirely different language, food and customs from my own. Meeting him showed me that our shared homeland united us, but there were whole communities within it I knew almost nothing about. That realisation has kept me curious ever since, because curiosity makes us better leaders and better healthcare professionals.
Patients bring their own context: beliefs about medicines, family dynamics, trust (or lack of it) in the healthcare system. Understanding that context builds safer, more honest relationships with the people we care for. My own grandmother never spoke much English, though she took English lessons well into her 80s. As a young Gujarati speaking pharmacist, I could interpret what other healthcare professionals were asking of her, and she beamed with pride at every appointment I attended with her, knowing she was in safe hands and wouldn’t leave confused. That experience taught me that cultural awareness can change how a patient feels about themselves, and hand them back agency in their own care.
Representation matters because teams that reflect the diversity of the patients they serve make better decisions and create genuine belonging. Growing up and working in London gave me a front row seat to cultures from around the world, and the chance to be mentored by people from backgrounds and industries far from my own. That has been pivotal to my growth as a leader. Some of my most valuable mentors have sat entirely outside pharmacy, because we often don’t recognise our own skills until we step outside our usual circles. Each one has shown me a side of myself I hadn’t valued enough.
Diversity is not something to be celebrated once a year and then set aside. It is the daily, ongoing practice of understanding one another better, in our patient interactions, in our teams, and in how we lead. South Asian Heritage Month, and this year’s theme of Unity in Diversity, reminds us to keep doing that work deliberately rather than incidentally. By taking the time to understand one another’s experiences and recognise the richness within our communities, rather than reducing it to a single narrative, as well as continually becoming aware of our own unconscious biases, we strengthen not only our profession, but the care we provide to every patient we cross paths with.
More about the Female Pharmacy Leaders Network.
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