THE Indian and Irish cultures mixed comfortably in the home of sisters Farah and Rebecca Taqi who were reared in the Gaeltacht but recently they took a trip of a lifetime to meet all their father’s relations.

That trip to the city of Hyderabad in southern India was recorded by a film crew for a documentary which will be broadcast on TG4 at the weekend. Farah (23) and Rebecca (21) came to live in Cill Chiaráin in Connemara when they were aged about eleven and nine.

They had previously lived in the Rath Carn Gaeltacht in County Meath and were fluent in Irish as their mother, Nuala McDonagh is a native of Cill Chiaráin.

Their father, Syed had been a jeweller in Dublin but was also a chef, which is what he did in O’Dowd’s Restaurant in Roundstone for a number of years. Syed and Nuala had met in London.

The girls had little problems settling in at school and were always aware of their Indian. “We couldn’t but not know as Dad always played Indian music at home and always cooked Indian food,” says Farah. Apparently the Indian home cooking they are used to is totally different to the variety of Indian cuisine available in Galway restaurants.

Their Dad travelled home a few times but they never did the trip as a family, though he did accompany the girls for the TV documentary.

Their visit ‘home’ to India was ...