Even in the face of riots, the united spirit of Birmingham stands tall, reports Bikash Mohapatra
"We all consider ourselves as Asians. Why don't you guys do so?"
So asks Mohammad, with a smile on his face.
The Karachi-born, now 49, has been living in Birmingham for the past 20 years and has taken to many jobs over the years for livelihood. The jobs have changed, the mindset hasn't.
"When I say 'we,' it refers to all the Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and other Asians living here," he explains, adding, "You will find Asians all over Birmingham, scattered across most parts of the city."
"But we do not consider ourselves different from each other unlike you people who live in India and Pakistan. We are together as one community here and anyone who comes from that part of the world is our guest," he adds.
"You ask an Indian about this and he will say exactly what I am saying." Mohammad's sentiments find a resonance almost everywhere in England's second largest city.
That's what makes Birmingham different, the fact that it is multi-cultural. Ethnic diversity is the prevalent norm. And people from various societies have assimilated well here to make the city in Midlands a melting pot.
"You will find Punjabis owning many businesses, Pakistanis owning several eateries and taxis and also others like Chinese and Africans taking up other jobs," explains Navdeep, a 35-year-old from Ludhiana who works in the hospitality sector.
"I took up a job in Delhi in 2001 and got an opportunity to work here a year later. I have been based in Birmingham since," he adds. Navdeep admits to having integrated to the society in his decade-long stay here but pines to return to his roots one day.
Watching so many different people living together in one city and contributing to its growth in their own respective ways is difficult to comprehend. So is finding a south Indian restaurant in a Chinese quarter. But here it is a reality.
It is not that there has never been any ethnicity-related trouble in this part of the world. The riots in 2005 were an eye-opener. Besides, there have been sporadic incidents of violence before and after the same as well.
However, what happened here following the riots in London was neither a manifestation of the happenings in the capital nor a cultural clash. It was simply a bunch of teenagers taking advantage of the prevailing countrywide situation and indulging in mass-scale looting. Some locals putting the blame on religion didn't go down well with the majority.
"You will find a mosque, a mandir (temple), a gurudwara and a church adjacent to one another. It symbolizes that all the religions can co-exist," says Hossain, a Bangladesh-born, who has lived in the city for more than three decades now.
"If god hasn't differentiated then why man is hell-bent on doing so," he asks. The cabbie is disturbed with the fact that his religion is now being targeted by negative-minded people.
"Earlier, it used to be a fight between the whites and the blacks," he says, trying his best to put forward a logical explanation.
"Then they realised its futility," he continues, adding, "Since then religion has been targeted."
"Anything untoward happens in the city and we are blamed for the same," says Mushtaq, whose family came to Birmingham from Kashmir (Pakistan part) back in the 1960s. He is optimistic though and believes this period of uncertainty is just a passing phase.
"The last two days have been bad but normalcy is being restored and things should stabilise in the next few days," hopes the 41-year-old who has carried forward his father's restaurant business.
"We have been living together for years now and this brief phase of trouble is not going to have any impact in the long run," he adds.
As I write this Mushtaq's prediction is coming true. The city is getting it's breathe back. There is tranquility in the air, a far cry from the mayhem that was witnessed in the last couple of days. In a few days the city should be ready to present its multi-cultural aspect to the world again. The brief period of anarchy will soon be forgotten and its cultural coexistence will come to the fore again.
Unity in diversity might be one of the tenets on which the foundation of the Indian democracy is based.
In Birmingham, it is the prevailing practice.
