Apart from a few guppies from England that I know, my interaction with British born Pakistanis is very little. I have two cousins who were born and raised in Plymouth. They used to visit Pakistan almost every 2-3 years and even though their visits to the US are very few and far between but we still email each other occasionally. Nothing in their behavior made me wanna believe the stories I hear about ‘Asians in Britain’ ; segregated, generally poor, higher than average unemployed and living in unsafe neighborhoods. They both are successful professionals and have married local girls.
But, recently I met this guy at a local Pakistani grocery store in town. He is the nephew of the owner and has moved in from England to help him out. In a few meetings I found out, he was born and raised there, did some school and now helps his father run a similar store. Got himself in trouble with the law, so decided to lay low for a while and came here to help out the uncle. His views on life ‘back home’ is definitely what I read in news. Gangs, racism, poverty and much more. He doesn’t speak Urdu but does speak Hindko or Photohari cos I can at least understand a few words of Punjabi in there. Curses as often as he says InshAllah, MashAllah etc. Loves football (Oh I am sorry soccer) and would be in his early 20s.
So, my question is how much the media (BBC to be one) do justice in portraying Pakistani community in England? Is it really as bad as it sounds? And what is the outlook in the coming years?
dont lie ahmadji..u just been watching too many episodes of "Goodness Gracious Me"
is it really as bad as it sounds?
first of all, where is he from in England?
and second of all, the BBC and Channel 4 are the only two channels in the UK who dare broadcast and produce programmes with Asians in them...although i think Corries had a few asain characters a few years ago :o . In my opinon, both the BBC and Channel 4 stereotype a great deal, sometimes i think they do more harm than good... but its not really as bad as it sounds as they do try and "keep it real"
I have never heard of this show. On BBC America I did watch for a few minutes a show something Kumar. I couldn't laugh at the single joke .. so had to move on with the flipper.
Anyway, he is from Birmingham. Tall, around 6'4-'5 and has a short buzz cut that he keeps jelled. Has an earring and also wears a silver chain like bracelet. Would you like to know more?
i understood your point from “hes from Birmingham”
to be honest, iv never in my life ever visited B’ham and i dont even have relatives from that City. I would have never had it down as a racist city though, im led to beleive that B’ham is very multicultural and i dont really know much about gangs either…
My city is exceptionally different from B’ham and most what it shown by the British media is usually asians down south (London) or the Midlands…
uk desi men, they all have goatee, chain and bracelet.. frankly they allll look same to me just like i cant differentiate between chinese and japanese or vietnamies :-/
They may tell it like it is for one part of the britpak community but very rarely do they balance it out with the other side of the coin. U will get the typical portrayal of girl running away from home to escape a forced marriage, moronic youth etc. Rarely do u see highly educated, articulate britpaks. But the outlook is good, we are seeing a lot more positive representation particularly of pak males, still need to see more britpak females who r not running away from home, yes a few of us do exist.
calm down pet..you know im jus messin, i actually think your quite the canny little bairn, ur a bit gobby, but your hairless and thats always a good sign…
