Use BBC.com or the new BBC App to listen to BBC podcasts, Radio 4 and the World Service outside the UK.

Find out how to listen to other BBC stations

Episode details

Radio 4,20 Dec 2019,28 mins

SeriesSeries 3

Episode 3

Three Pounds in My Pocket

Available for over a year

Kavita Puri hears what that catch-all term “Asian” really means for British South Asians. Although the Indian subcontinent is a vast place, the main migrant groups from the early "three pound" generation came from a handful of places. Each of these regions has its own distinctive language, food and tradition. All these years on, what matters to them and their children: is it the region they first came from on the Indian subcontinent, or the country? Their religion? A mix? Or does it no longer matter? And we hear how for some it's not just the “Asian” bit of British South Asian that can be hard to define, right now it’s also the “British” part. These are personal reflections rarely voiced. Presenter: Kavita Puri Producer: Ant Adeane Editor: Hugh Levinson Historical consultants: Dr Florian Stadtler, Exeter University Dr Edward Anderson, Cambridge University

Programme Website
More episodes