What makes someone run towards places most people are desperate to escape?
Long before Ravi Singh became one of Britain’s most remarkable humanitarian figures, he was a child caught between worlds: born in Singapore, raised in a Punjabi village, and brought to Britain at 11, where he encountered racism, loss and dislocation almost as soon as he arrived. Years later, he would go on to found Khalsa Aid, the international relief organisation known for delivering aid in some of the most dangerous and devastated places on earth.
In this episode of Full Disclosure, James O’Brien sits down with Ravi to trace the experiences that shaped his lifelong commitment to service - from a childhood marked by community, faith and hardship, to the moment he realised that compassion could become a form of action in the face of injustice.
Ravi reflects on growing up in a village shared by Sikh, Muslim and Hindu families, losing his father at a young age, and arriving in Britain unable to speak English, where he was confronted almost immediately by racism and exclusion. He describes the values instilled by his mother, the discipline and belonging he found in the Air Cadets, and the personal and political awakening that followed news of atrocities in Punjab.
They discuss faith, identity and activism; the Sikh principles of seva and Sarbat Da Bhala; the founding of Khalsa Aid during the Kosovo crisis; and what it means to deliver practical help in places devastated by war, displacement and disaster - from Iraq and Syria to Somerset and Slough.
Passionate, reflective and deeply moving, this is a conversation about loss, service, solidarity and the moral courage required to see other people’s suffering as your own.
Find out more about Khalsa Aid here
Full Disclosure is a Global Production
Listen or watch every Friday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.