Neeraj Shetye studied at SOAS planning to return to India, but after two years in the UK, the decision feels impossible. The safety net, legal protections, and queer-friendly community he built there don't exist back home, leaving him caught between where he came from and where he's built a life.
Chapters
And would you say you'd want to go back at some point, or do you want to stay in the UK? Good question. I, when I came here, I had this whole idea of moving back, and I do want to in the long term. Like, I don't see, I don't know about your experiences, but I don't particularly see a future in this country, especially with the kind of, you know, there's no community care or, you know, all of the support system that you need is not here in terms of family. And like, I have friends and stuff, that's great. But that was my perspective when I was studying at SOAS. But now I feel like after 2, 2 and a half years, I feel it's not so easy to take that call because you're building your life. And I'm queer as a person, like in terms of my identity, I feel I can't even compromise that because I know I'll— I won't have the same privilege back home, you know. I mean, the security that you have here, um, the safety net that you have here, the protection, or the, uh, the community that I've built is also quite nice here. So I know it might not be the same back home, so