Things south asians have done to make UK a better place?

[nurali]

Hi, I am doing a long project on South Asians in the UK and would like to hear of anything mumsnetters may want to share about South Asians (Indian, pakistani, Bengali) and their contributions to the society. You may want to email me if you dont want to post it here, it can be anything, interactions, observations, bad points, experiences. I am open to comments being of British born, SA origin myself.

[email protected]

Well it's a bit trite and obvious but - so many gorgeous new foods, including spices and oils have landed on our supermarket shelves and in local deli's etc as a result, in part, to S.Asian demand for them.

as well as the rest of the people trying and demanding them too

Our local councillor is Pakistani in origin - he is an amazing guy, in his 30s, but has built up a business, employs loads of people and makes a huge contribution to the community.

Meera Syal and the gang from Goodness Gracious Me - sheer brilliance.

I tend to see people only as individuals, so I wll have to generalise a lot here....

Strong sense of community- good community spirit.
Lots of charity work- at home and abroad
Strong belief in the power of education and the benefits it can bring.
I know lots of south asians who are 1st generation immigrants- who are well educated, highly qualified professional people who contribute a great deal to the success of their workplaces, and as most are in public service, have a positive impact on the lives of the public every day.

culture - dance, music, religion. For example the beautiful mandir in Neasden and the hindu exhibition.

agree re charity work too, the Indian association local to us does a lot of work for Home Start.

Curry is the UK's national dish! Also textiles, things like Indian block-printed bedspreads, paisley fabric - they seem really traditionally British to me now. South Asian products, shops and restaurants are a central part of most people's life in the UK I think. The fact that a lot of British Asians run shops is a link in communities too - it means they are at the centre of a local community, know everyone etc and that helps people to be chatty and mingle with each other instead of dividing into separate communities along race lines.

thnks everyone, can i just add that i've got some publishers in hand and was wondering if anyone minds being quoted, if it progresses into a book? please let me know either way, its a open look at society, so dont feel just because u have a negative comment, it might get misinterpreted. As i said earlier u can email me and i need a first name(u can make it up if u want) rough age and maybe ethnicity if relevant. but these will only be used with your quote if you give permission.Thanks

Nurali - when is this project going to be finished? I would like to get my hands on a copy if possible? Sounds interesting!

bringing a bit of vitality, colour and life into the country. Fabrics, food (especially food!) , jewellery, diversity, spices, scents, things like henna, bindis, music (Asian Dub Foundation etc), giving us a chance to understand our history, a way to describe it would be like the Western musical scale has fixed notes but the Eastern has all these modulations and the Indian style of singing, for example, gives you this idea of multi-facetedness, of shades of tone that you didn't know existed before. In youth culture things like Bollywood, the enjoyment of kitsch and taking it as far as it can go and just enjoying it. And setting moral boundaries for kitsch, like you have to get married at the end or whatever. But I wonder if this is about South Asianness or just about otherness or having your eyes opened by being exposed to a very different culture. In terms of contributions to society in a more formal way, yes, the work ethic, which has its cognate in the northern English Protestant tradition, idea of family loyalty and not abandoning old people, but again, is it specifically SA and not, for example, SE Asian?

thanks gemzooks, it is specifically SA, india pakistan and bangladesh, doesn't matter about religion.

Hope to finish in around 3-4 months, i'm half way yet.