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the right way to take the right decision, whatever that decision may turn out to be. “At the end of the day, it is their decision,” he says. […] Shefali is not so sure that her parents would be so laid-back if she chose to go outside her community. “You’ve got these cultural differences,” she says. “Why make your life more difficult? I think they’d prefer it if I was with somebody from my community, or at least Gujarati.” So where does she place her identity? Does she see herself as any different to other students at her private school? Shefali loves music and films, both Hindi and English. She says that the interest in Hindi cinema has come from her own voyage of discovery and has nothing to do with her family’s influence. She slips easily between three languages: English, French and Gujarati. “I went to India and I met all my grandparents’ relatives,” she says, “It was really nice to be able to speak to them.” […] While she cherishes her cultural heritage, the idea of staying in a close-knit family and community in Leicester no longer has such appeal. Like so many of her generation, she has her eyes set on university and London. “It’s not getting away from my family. It’s just that I love London. It’s more busy and interesting. But I’d like to continue living in an extended family because I like living with my grandparents and mum and dad.” In the 25 years since Chandu first set foot in Leicester, the family has seen great improvement in the attitudes between the different races. Today, they find themselves sympathising with people who say that immigrants should sit a citizenship test and be fluent in English. And, at the same time, they see no reason why it means the latest immigrants cannot also hold onto their own culture and mother tongue. “I’m a British businessman with Indian roots,” says Hemant. “My daughter’s a British-Indian because the Indian roots are there. It’s not something we would want to eradicate. There are good things in there. But this is our home and the first priority is here. Both sides are accepting each other more than twenty years ago,” he continues. “At that time, white people thought of us as a bunch of immigrants. Now there’s a lot more awareness on both sides.” Leicester has long had a reputation for being the model of multiculturalism. It is easy to understand why when you see the contribution that it has made to one family’s happiness. “I want to salute Britain,” says Chandu. “To accept so many different people, it needed to have something. And that is tolerance and I admire Britain for that. What I say to the Asian communities and everyone is that if you want respect you have to give it. That is my golden rule.” (Barnie Choudhury, BBC News Online , 2002) 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115 120 125 130 135 140 145 Working with the text a) With a partner, draw a family tree for the Mattanis. Add notes giving personal information about each of them. b) What are the conclusions to be drawn from this passage? c) How does this portrayal of the Mattani family support or contradict the points made by Sarfraz Manzoor about British Asian Muslims in the previous text on page 130? Writing: A recipe for happiness Based on the Mattanis’ experience, write a “recipe for happiness” for members of ethnic minorities. You can choose the form in which you want to present your recipe (a poem, a narrative, an essay, a poster, …). 3  4  133 Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv