A legend of the Glasgow curry scene has fondly recalled the day he was awarded an MBE by Queen Elizabeth II and the way she paid tribute to his personal late mom - 56 years after their first encounter.
Raj Bajwe, former proprietor of Spice Backyard and ex-manager of Café India, met the monarch in July 2018 throughout a ceremony at Holyroodhouse Palace in Edinburgh. He was offered with the medal for his 45-year service to the hospitality business and for his charity work, which has seen him elevate round £7.6million over a interval of 20 years.
Regardless of having cooked for megastars together with Michael Jackson, Mel Gibson, Sean Connery and Billy Connolly, the 59-year-old mentioned he was 'overwhelmed' to satisfy the Queen.
The encounter with Her Majesty was particularly poignant for Raj as he obtained the distinguished accolade in honour of his mom, Parsain, who sadly handed away in 2006 on the age of 74, which, astonishingly, the Queen acknowledged on the occasion.
And remarkably, it wasn't the primary time the Queen had been within the household's firm, after she attended the Malindi Hospital in Kenya the week he was born - even strolling previous child Raj and his mom as they recovered from his beginning.
The dad-of-two instructed the File: "Once I acquired the letter via from the cupboard workplace telling me I might been nominated for an MBE, I could not cease crying. It was fairly a shock.
"Within the type that you simply ship again, I requested that the MBE be offered by the Queen herself if it was potential. I am so grateful they took my request on.
"The very first thing she requested me was what I did for a residing. I instructed her how I've labored all my life within the restaurant enterprise and the way I might progressed from the underside to the highest. She mentioned that was very good.
"She then instructed me she appreciated the Royal Stewart tartan and the turban that I used to be carrying. I mentioned, 'properly, your Majesty, I have been residing in your lovely Kingdom for 54 years now, I needed to characterize you by some means.
"I then instructed her that I used to be dedicating the medal to my mum. When she pinned the medal to my chest, her face glowing, she smiled a fantastic smile, and I felt as if it was my mum who was smiling at me.
"She then leaned ever so barely ahead and, holding my hand, mentioned, 'I am certain your mum shall be trying down on you'. The tears fell from my eyes."
Raj added: "I additionally mentioned to her, I used to be born on twenty second April, 1963. The yr I used to be born, you had been on a Royal Tour of Ghana and West Africa and also you visited a hospital which was newly constructed on the time.
"My mum was in one of many hospital beds and I used to be in a cot beside her and also you walked previous us. She was very happy to listen to that."
Following the sovereign's passing on Thursday on the age of 96, nonetheless, Raj's was left devastated as he admits he has struggled to come back to phrases with the lack of such an influential determine.
He even travelled from Glasgow to Edinburgh on Monday to put flowers and pay his respects. He added: "When my sister phoned me at work to inform me the information, I used to be in a foul state.
"I instructed employees that I needed to go away. Having met and spoke to her, it is onerous to simply accept she's gone. I got here to Holyroodhouse to reminisce on how lovely a day it had been after I met her and to say my last goodbye.
"I did not wish to speak to anybody, I simply wished to take a seat with my very own ideas. My father had an image of Her Majesty in the home and and even now, he nonetheless says to me, 'son, that is one other girl in your life that you will always remember'."
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