British-born Padma Shri awardee Pepita Seth has officially acquired Indian citizenship. She has been residing in Kerala for over 50 years and applied for citizenship in 2024.
“She has been staying here for over 50 years, and she applied for Indian citizenship in 2024. By citizenship acquired by naturalisation, we hand over the certificate today,” said District Collector Arjun Pandian about her milestone.
In an interview, she expressed her happiness about being an Indian citizen. She said, “I am happy to be here and happy to have become an Indian citizen. My dream. Buddy.”
Recalling her journey, she shared, “My name is Pepita Seth. I was born and brought up in the UK. After some time, I got interested in travelling and I came to India.”
Why settle in Kerala?
Initially, she visited Delhi and later ventured out to different places across India, including Mumbai. Finally, she visited Kerala. “I liked Kerala.” She explained that she loved the culture and the local people.
“I travelled from Delhi to Bombay and then on to Kerala, North Kerala and then all over Kerala. Saw Kathakali like everybody coming here, went to see Theyyam, went to see other cultural activities, got to know people, saw Melams, saw Uttralikkavu, things like that and gradually got interested more and more and more in the Kerala culture and began taking photographs and began writing about it and I stayed in Thrissur because it was a very good focus point to travel to and from and now I came to this flat here and I have stayed here for 12 years or something.”
She also mentioned the books she had written on Theyyam. Also known as Kaliyattam, it is a ritual dance popular in north Kerala.
She was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian award, in 2012 for her work in art and culture.