DRWF Women and Diabetes interviews: “I'm teaching myself to learn more about living with type 2 diabetes” – comedian Sajeela Kershi
The DRWF Woman and Diabetes series welcomes comedian, actor and author Sajeela Kershi to discuss type 2 diabetes.
At the heart of this project is a simple but powerful belief: every woman living with diabetes deserves to feel seen, heard, and supported.
Across the UK, women with type 1 and type 2 diabetes navigate a lifelong journey shaped not only by their condition, but also by the many milestones and challenges unique to womanhood – from adolescence and pregnancy, through menopause, to later life.
Alongside managing blood glucose levels, they balance careers, family, relationships, and their own health and wellbeing.
Yet too often, these experiences are underrepresented in public conversations about diabetes.
Many women tell us they have never heard a story that truly reflects their own – and that lack of visibility can leave them feeling isolated, misunderstood, or unseen.
The Women and Diabetes podcast series aims to change that.
Sajeela Kershi is an award-winning comedian, actor and writer behind Immigrant Diaries, who is living with type 2 diabetes.
Sajeela said of her diagnosis: “I have had type 2 diabetes since around 2013. Am I a good example of someone living with type 2 diabetes? I don't know where I fall into that, but I am trying to navigate through it. I feel quite strongly about my South Asian community needing to be a little bit more aware, and I am teaching myself to learn more about living with type 2 diabetes.”
DRWF: What was your reaction when you were diagnosed? Were you expecting it? Was it a shock?
Sajeela: “Initially I was told I was pre-diabetic and, in all honesty, and it sounds ignorant, but I didn’t know what that meant. Yes, I know we have search engines, but I didn't think to look. The doctor said I was going to have to take metformin, and I didn’t know what that was. I really felt absolutely awful, and I said, I’ll manage it myself. But I didn’t know what that looked like. I didn't know I had a very unhealthy lifestyle.
“I was gigging four or five times a week. That involves very late nights and I cannot eat before a performance because the adrenaline is high, so I would eat late at night. It was all the wrong things. I was eating a diet of pasties from service stations. I obviously did not succeed in what I now realise where you can actually reverse type 2 diabetes.
“So of course, I started taking metformin, and then other things happened, including an underactive thyroid, high cholesterol. The list just goes on and on. One thing goes wrong and then something else does. So here I am now. Would I say I am any wiser than when I first got diagnosed? Yes, I am. Is it easy to maintain my health? I do struggle like everybody else probably does. There are good days and bad days. Sometimes I can feel very heavenly and, you know, have a halo around my head and think, gosh, I am so good at this. I'm so good at diabetes. And other times I'm just like, okay, I really fail the test now. So yeah, it's up and down.”
DRWF: In your family, with a South Asian background, is there more propensity to type 2 diabetes?
Sajeela: “I've got a family riddled with diabetes, and it's almost like, I don't know, a badge of honour or dishonour! You hear, “oh, so and so just found out they've got sugar”. That's how they describe it. A bit of sugar, and so it doesn't sound harmful, does it? It is not openly talked about.
“I keep a very specific routine. It is frustrating, but it is only when you get type 2 diabetes that you realise what it means. I think knowledge should not be gained just when you get the condition, it should be there in our communities.
“It's getting better with my generation, the next generation are completely opposite because they are so much into their wellbeing. It is the complete opposite from when I was brought up.”
“We tend to think we have got it sussed because of the prevalence in the South Asian community, but conversations need to be happening with professionals, with people in our communities.”
DRWF: Do you think the adrenaline and stress of a performance, affect your diabetes?
Sajeela: “It is taking its toll on my health, because even if I had eaten healthily or taken my medications, and done all the right things, it doesn't stop me from feeling a little bit lightheaded and blurry eyed on stage. Or, just after I've come off stage, there is an emotional slump. I may get home around 2am, and because your adrenaline is so high, you need to come down from that. I got addicted to telenovelas, I don't know if that's good for my diabetes, but it certainly makes me have that emotional come down.
“I choose the work that I do now. Whereas before, and I think initially I tried to carry on as normal, but it affects your body, it definitely makes a difference, even if you are doing all the right things because you can't control the cortisol, you can't control the adrenaline.
“Now I'm fine and I'm just having water. I always felt I needed something help me get fired up but even this, a podcast, is a performance and it takes a different energy than just sitting down.”
DRWF: You have said that your diagnosis led to your greatest success. How has this affected that work life balance then?
Sajeela: “I've always been a glass half full kind of person, which is very difficult when I'm having a mental health issue because I'm crying through it all. It's still okay. I thought, this is an opportunity. I don't see this as a terrible thing. This is an opportunity because I've been given a kick up the backside. Life isn't just hee hee ha. Things can go wrong and perhaps I'm not pushing myself as much as I did before, which is strange, given that I just said all the things about gigging and how it affects me. I was pushing a lot harder and really making the work I was doing count, which then led to the Asian Woman of Achievement award in Arts and Culture for my show Immigrant Diaries.
DRWF: Do you think dealing with difficult subjects in comedy, like health issues makes it easier to discuss?
Sajeela: “Without any intention to do so, I've got a bit of a reputation for having an on the 'the nose' kind of material sometimes. I've always talked about things that matter to me and that can be politics, that can be religion and that can be the personal prism of my own journey. I'm never afraid of tackling anything, but I haven't talked about diabetes because there is a rule in comedy which is tragedy plus time equals comedy.
“Now, the diagnosis and the upset around it is all long gone and I'm just living with this condition, but I don't feel that defines me, necessarily. I don't know if that's right or wrong, but I don't wake up in the morning saying, hey, I have diabetes, what can I do?”
Sajeela added that more should be done to combat stigma and shaming around living with type 2 diabetes: “When I have done interviews and we have touched on diabetes, there is an element of, blame and shame. It is quite baffling because there is not enough time when you have to talk in soundbites to explain everything. Look, that is not how it works and diabetes is seen as your own fault, which is frustrating.”
The DRWF Living with Diabetes women's health podcast series is supported by Abbott
Launched to coincide with World Diabetes Day (14th November), the DRWF Women and Diabetes series brings together inspirational women from diverse backgrounds who live with diabetes, to share their life stories in their own words.
We explore how they navigate the different stages of life while managing their condition, and the strategies they use to minimise its impact and live fully.
Sarah Tutton, DRWF Chief Executive, said: “At DRWF, everything we do is grounded in compassion, credibility, and collaboration. We actively listen to the voices of those we serve, ensuring that our initiatives are shaped by lived experience and respond to real-world needs. In doing so, we aim not only to inform and support, but also to inspire hope and positive change within the diabetes community.”
Watch all videos at the DRWF YouTube channel
Listen to the interviews in full as part of the DRWF Living with Diabetes podcast series here
Read more DRWF Podcasts: Launching the Women and Diabetes interviews series for World Diabetes Day
Read more about type 2 diabetes
I would like to make a regular donation of
I would like to make a single donation of
There are lots of ways to raise money to support
people living with all forms of diabetes.
Bake, Swim, Cycle, Fly ... Do It For DRWF!
Fundraise with us
Recent News
