Mali grew up hearing stories of his great-great-uncle, Dinesh Gupta, a revolutionary in the Indian Independence Movement. These stories led Mali to be fascinated with political freedom movements. He is currently writing his dissertation for a History Master's at Cardiff University, drawing on a family archive, including Dinesh Gupta’s prison letters.
Mali finds heritage that engages local communities and encourages storytelling as a form of remembrance particularly meaningful. He is also excited by the process of decolonising history by inviting new voices to the forefront, as a counterbalance to dominant narratives.
His favourite recent project was South Asian Britain: Connecting Histories, for which he wrote an entry on Kristnalal Datta, a South Asian doctor working in the Rhondda Valley in the early 1900s. He has also conducted research for the Glamorgan Archives' Guide to Sources for the Study of Minority Ethnic History and is currently volunteering with Heritage and Cultural Exchange to catalogue their collections on Tiger Bay. Most recently, he acted as a critical friend, consulting with the Horniman Museum for their exhibition, Meeting Mohini.