Introduction
The UK has a proud heritage of Asian culture. It runs vibrantly rich throughout our towns and cities, with cuisine, music, and fashion continually evolving while keeping the proud traditions encapsulated within them. My two daughters are of dual heritage, still in touch with their Gujarati culture and one that I have been lucky enough to experience first-hand, falling in love with the food and Bollywood cinema. So, I was greatly encouraged to hear about an inspirational project in Bradford, especially in this turbulent world we live in. One is the brainchild of a group of Pakistani aunties who are determined to break the cycle of narrow thinking and combine tradition with forward-thinking, tapping into the vibrant Asian youth culture and learning from them their loves and experiences as well as teaching them new skills and enriching them with their inspirational stories. It is a valued project to ensure these precious traditions of language and culture are passed on to the next generation.
Back to Basics
The most potent form of communication is the spoken word, and there is nowhere better to bring it together than in a community hall or your own home. This is exactly what a group of aunties did and were followed on their journey by a BBC camera crew. These inspirational women go about teaching sewing, cooking, poetry, life skills and the importance of family. A journey full of laughs, love and emotional stories from those who have lived and breathed this rollercoaster of life. A community project that produces unity rather than a wedge.
The young teach the aunties how to take the perfect selfie, how to call the emergency services quickly on a mobile phone, the beauty of modern dance and music and their own personal skills. There is an emotional moment when one young woman tells her heartfelt story of how an arranged marriage ended in divorce due to domestic violence and how she had to go to court to get a restraining order. Now she feels she is stigmatised by others because of her brave decision and finds it hard to date again because of her stigma.
The programme ends on a high with the group travelling by coach to Blackpool. A journey that is packed with food, singing and Jess reciting her love poem in Punjabi that she has been practising for months. Once in Blackpool, they enjoy the seaside delights of the seafront, karaoke, go for a game of bingo and sample Blackpool Asian cuisine. A brilliant BBC documentary that is part of their Faith and Hope season and shows the sheer drive and determination of aunties such as Auntie Ghazala, Auntie Rubina (Ruby) and Auntie Tahera.
