Travelling Ayahs Workshop

We were very pleased to host Dr Arunima Datta and explore her work on travelling Ayahs through an interactive workshop held at Sheffield City Archives. Drawing attention to the fortitude, agency and resistance of these overlooked domestic workers felt like a fitting way to celebrate International Women's Day.

Dr Datta shared her findings about the Ayahs lives, including the discrimination they were subjected to and how they fought back against it. She also drew attention to the archival sources used to discover these details, including passports and shipping records, and discussed the challenges of navigating the many gaps in official records. This includes a lack of direct testimony from the Ayahs themselves. Finally, the question was posed: What can we do as responsible citizens of the present to remember and honour the lives of those that have been silenced by history/archives? 

As part of our attempt to answer this question and also connect with our ancestral knowledge, we cooked and shared food that was based on the recipes travelling Ayahs brought to Britain. With thanks to Dr Datta and WOC Azadi Collective for supporting this nourishing and thought-provoking workshop.