Two years ago, I was offered the opportunity to write for The Glasgow Times and what an honour it’s been.

Something you might not know about me is that I am the proud daughter of a shopkeeper. I grew up helping my dad in our wee corner shop and I have the fondest of memories. Though times were hard for our family back then, there was a rhythm and a routine for how my dad ran the shop where even on Christmas Day, dad would reliably be there for anyone who needed bread, milk, their fags or just a chat.

Alongside the cash and carry trips, the stocking of the shelves, serving the customers, one thing I loved the most was sorting out the papers for the day. Up before the world, we’d be at the shop with my dad as the papers would arrive and before school, my sister and I did the paper round. My love for writing came from that time as I would be fascinated by the different papers, often looking out for which journalists were reporting the stories of the day. Medicine was my parent’s dream for me before it became mine; my first dream was to write in a paper someday.

The Glasgow Times was and remains a paper my family always read. It would always be open in front of my parents beside the till and it’s a paper that feels very much part of my history. So when I was asked by our lovely editor if I’d like to start a health column when the pandemic began, it was an instant yes. I imagined little me, who once delivered this paper - would she have ever believed herself to be writing in it? The answer : not in a million years.

Born and brought up in Glasgow, I grew up in a small tenement flat with my parents, little sister and extended family. I went to my local school, Hillhead Primary and then Notre Dame High School before studying medicine at Glasgow University. I’m a proud Scot. However, I’m also of Indian origin and growing up as a first generation Scottish Indian was at times quite hard. Especially as a child and in my early teens, that true sense of belonging and identity was absent.

Though most of our customers were lovely and my mum and dad built up a beautiful relationship with our local community, they unfortunately also experienced a fair bit of racism and abuse over the years at the shop. Watching that as a child was really upsetting. They never said anything back. They just served. I didn’t see us as being different but then when I would look at the papers and magazines on the shelves, it would hit home - we were different. People like us weren’t in the papers, we certainly weren’t writing for them.

My parents came from India in the late 70’s with nothing and they worked tirelessly to serve our local community which makes me so proud. They also raised two girls to became doctors who both work in the NHS. It all started at the shop!

However there was still a desire within me to contribute to the local community in a different way. To write then for a paper I once delivered, to help people feel better, was such a great experience.

Throughout the pandemic I have written weekly to help break down health news, share insights from the frontline, provide education around common medical problems as well as update on any new health developments. It has been an honour. You rarely get feedback from readers but I do hope that some of the columns have been helpful and provided hope and optimism in times where it was particularly challenging for us all.

Through my time of writing this column, I’ve had my second child, I’ve worked alongside the wider NHS team to look after our patients through the pandemic, been part of a historic vaccine rollout as well as navigating the challenging and uncertain times. I know life has been happening to you too and so it’s been a privilege to share this space with you.

However as my work becomes busier by the day, it is time for me to say goodbye to the column. The juggle of working/parenting life is real and so my efforts need to be prioritised to those. It remains my go to paper for all things Glasgow news and now you know why so I’m hoping I’ll pop up again some time in the future. For now though, stay safe and take care of number one which is YOU.