Damyanti Ladwa has lived in a small town called Amesbury, a few minutes walk away from the famous Stonehenge, and together with her family are the only Hindus living in the town. She is an inspiring example about how a person can stand firm in their roots despite having no other Hindus living in the area in which she lives. Even more impressive is the way that she has reached out and engaged with the wider community to educate and inform them about Hindu culture.

Where did you live before arriving in the UK?

Kenya, but I've been here since I was 11, so have spent the better part of my life here.

How did you end up in such a random place like Amesbury? Was it hard to fit into the area?

The company for which my husband works posted him here. When we moved here there was literally no Asian face here at all, and to fit in to such a community was hard enough, but slowly and surely started introducing myself, got involved in the community, for example through charity work. I also worked in HSBC, so I became a familiar face and got to know a lot of people.

Was there ever any racism and xenophobia you have faced, being one of the only ethnic minority families living in your town?

I am thankful to say that there have not been any major incidents in all my time living here. There have been some odd comments here and there, but on each of these occasions some other person has stuck up for us by pointing out how much I have done as much for the local community as anybody else who lives here.

I find that actually engaging with people and getting involved in doing stuff means that racists don't have a leg to stand on, they are deprived of legitimacy straight away. But it you stay secluded and don't talk with others, it makes it easier for racist views to spread.

You have done a lot of work educating people about Hinduism and Indian culture. Can you tell us a bit about this, and how you came to become involved in such work?

I go around to various venues and deliver talks, events and workshops that have Hindu culture as their basis. The kind of stuff is quite varied, depending on the age group and audience. Sometimes I have talked to Police organisations, and at other times children as young as four or five. I talk about Hinduism, the festivals, beliefs, customs and culture. It includes fun things like making food and rangolis, doing mehndi, dance workshops and many other things.

How did you get involved in doing all this?

Initially I did a talk at a women's institute. This led to me being invited in to speak to wider audiences.

I got invited to a training day for head teachers training day, and I explained to them the kind of things I would like to be involved in teaching, and how it is important that children growing up knowing other people's cultures. Since then I have been invited more and more to speak, do workshops at 'multicultural days'. In the last week I have been to three schools. In the coming week I have another three to do. And I am booked up all the way until February.

It must have been quite nerve wracking at the start, not having done this kind of thing before?

Absolutely, at the beginning it was like 'oh my God'. But over time it became easy. I believe a lot of other Hindu women who live in similar areas to me could do the same thing. It feels good to do something to promote our culture, and schools provide quite good money for people who do this sort of thing.

Virtually all of your activities have been in front of non-Hindu audiences. How have they reacted towards you? Why do you think it is worthwhile to go around teaching them all these things?

I don't think we should be only inward looking and not engage with others. There are children growing up here who no absolutely nothing about other cultures and ways of life, and I feel it's very beneficial for them to understand others. Many children have not even seen a non-white person before. For example in one school where I went to talk, people thought I travelled from India to come and talk to them because they didn't know that Hindus or Indians existed in Britain! When these people move out of their areas into the large cities, they are shocked and don't know how to act around people of other religions, cultures and ethnicities. I also receive a lot of positive letters from parents, which is very encouraging.

What type of questions do you get?

The most common one is about 'many gods', which I don't find at all hard to explain. I get this question especially from teachers. Then there is stuff about festivals, reincarnation, customs like our dress and bindi.

Have you got any final thoughts for our readers?

Maintain your family values - it is very important. Otherwise Hindus will end up suffering a lot. Our generation do not realise the importance of the extended family. It's only because I've lived in an extended family that my children have grown up close to their Hindu roots despite living in a totally non-Hindu area. A lot of times nowadays I have noticed how we are impatient and dismissive of our elders - and this trend must be reversed.