Meera Syal (CBE)
A British comedienne, author, playwright, singer, journalist, producer and actress, Meera Syal CBE is one of the UK’s best known Indian personalities. She rose to prominence as one of the team that created ‘Goodness Gracious Me’ and is renowned as Sanjeev’s grandmother, Ummi, in ‘The Kumars at No. 42’. Frequently on television and on stage, Meera Syal wrote the novel and later the screenplay for ‘Anita and Me’. She was awarded an MBE in 1997 and listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.