|
If we think
that Nasser Hussain was the first Asian
to lead a national English team, we are
wrong. It was Sutinder Khehar who
captained the English hockey team in the
early eighties.
If
you were an Indian women in England
during the sixties wearing a Sari, you
wouldn’t be allowed to manage English
staff. Raksha Tandon was sacked before
she could begin her lucrative managerial
job only because she refused to abandon
her sari in favour of English dress.
In
the sixties the Ealing Council had a
policy of having not more than 25 per
cent Asian children in a particular
school. To keep the racial balance right
young Asian kids were sent to schools
outside Ealing.
You
can listen to these extraordinary
stories of the struggle and the rising
influence of Asian community in Britain
on www.historytalking.com.
And
there is no end to these lovely stories.
After playing an important role in
India’s first Test victory at the
Oval, wicket-keeper Farooq Engineer
thought he would be booed by the
Lancashire crowds, instead he got an
standing ovation. The tennis ace John
McEnroe could never tolerate a Sikh,
Raghubir Singh Mahajan, umpiring at
Wimbledon. There are many such stories
around us waiting to be discovered.
And
then there are all these famous Asians -
Swaraj Paul, Lord Desai, Saeed Jaffrey
and Nasser Hussain or celebrities like
Pt Ravi Shankar Dev Anand, AR Rahman, or
Aamir Khan and many more. We have seen
the public face of them, but do we
really know who they are, where were
they born, what inspired them and what
kind of struggle they had gone through
to achieve their present status.
You can listen to all these
people, their story in their words, on
History Talking.com.
History
Talking.com aims to create a valuable
online educational resource of Asian
oral history and heritage. It invites
people to volunteer information,
eyewitness accounts and life experiences
about some of the socially and
educationally relevant events, social
trends and cultural themes.
“Most
of our contributors are senior citizens
narrating their life experiences. While
a large number of our visitors belong to
the web-savvy younger generation. By
bringing them together we hope to build
bridges between the two generations,”
says Vijay Rana, the editor, History Talking.com.
A
community’s contribution is often
known through the stories of its
successful people and celebrities. Of
course History Talking.com is collecting
these success stories. But behind their
success there are thousands of others,
who have silently but successfully
crossed many road-blocks that stood in
their path. To present a complete image
of the South Asian communities in the
UK History Talking.com is talking
to hundreds of these silent voices.
New
stories appear on the site every week
– the poignant stories of courage and
determination, the disturbing stories of
social discrimination and the inspiring
stories of the pioneers of the social
and cultural movements.
History
Talking.com is now also exploring
certain themes that characterize our
community, for example journey to UK,
life in the Southall Rubber Factory,
heart disease among Asians or
development of Asian bazaars like
Brick Lane.
In
a unique and unprecedented initiative,
History Talking.com’s ‘Radio2All’
programme is determined to transform
the world of broadcasting. Now everyone
can broadcast on the web. Anyone who has
a story to tell or a message to give or
educate or entertain can approach Vijay
Rana, the editor of History Talking.com
for a rare broadcasting opportunity.
E-mail:
editor@historytalking.com
|
