Beautiful Britain (!?!)

Here's the thing. I have always been taught to assume positive intent! It's a lesson that has served me well and overall, life has been kind to me.

Recent events in the UK though, have led me to deeply reflect on the state of our society, particularly as a brown man with a family in the UK.

It’s still difficult to comprehend being a target for just the way one may look. I thought we had moved beyond that. I thought we were dealing with more covert forms of bigotry, not with the overt types that people before me had dealt with day in and day out. That said, my lived experience in this country does not (for the most part) match up with the rhetoric often found on social media and some of the scenes on the streets. It takes a lot of mental effort to remind oneself that there is more in common among us than that is not.

The biggest contribution of education in modern society is an understanding that almost all problems are multi-variate. People that offer simple answers are almost always wrong and either have the wrong understanding of the problem or the wrong motivation. This is equally true of the common man and the billionaire. To be correct is to be nuanced. Being certain is a path to antagonisation, not to the truth.

Of course, there are several issues that exist in this country, many of which are deeply systemic, but people providing simple explanations seem to want to hijack the narrative on what it means to be “British” and wanting to claim their streets back. There are several British Asian people who have more of a right to talk about life in Britain than I do. I qualify merely as a resident, a tax payer, and a person who has been made welcome (for the most part) in this country. That said, most of all I qualify as a well wisher of modern Britain.

So, while the “Life in the UK” test didn’t actually cover this in the syllabus, here’s my personal take on what I have admired most about the Britain I have witnessed.?Needless to say, these are not universal truths.

1. Enjoy the variety in food - Probably the best thing about being a ‘foreigner’ in Britain is that the British can appreciate variety in food. I have learned more about various other cuisines here. Even those who are less culinarily adventurous enjoy the odd samosa, onion bhajji or spring roll!?
2. Typically more civic engagement. I have always been impressed by how many people volunteer with local initiatives, whether it is with the National Trust, Charities, Park runs, etc. They write regularly to the council, or to their MP and don’t take the fabric of their locality for granted. Generally, people like trying to solve problems that impact their areas (even if they don’t succeed). Of course, the country’s economic prosperity has something to do with this, but I have a huge admiration for people who willingly volunteer their time for the good of society.
3. People in Britain love to play! From Sunday league to Bingo, to pub quizzes, pub games, to the innumerable game shows on the telly, to podcasts that encourage lateral thinking to cryptic crosswords, to the huge support that sport receives, the emotional investment in bringing football home, the competitive spirit of the Ashes. The support behind Olympians and Paralympians.?
4. Self deprecating humour - not taking yourself too seriously -Most importantly, I admire the fact that people can laugh at themselves. When not toxic, the concept of banter is rooted in not taking oneself too seriously. You only have to look at the fancy dresses and the hen-dos and stag-dos to see that people are happy to celebrate the sillier side to life!?
5. Not just tolerant, but accepting and curious. Typically, most people in Britain aren’t just tolerant, they accept others, they are curious to know more about their culture, their food, their music. They put in a lot of effort to learn a sentence or two in another language. I love this and have often found keen listeners to my stories about my life outside the UK.

All in all, while there is a lot to criticise, I hope we spend time to see the goodness around. I hope we invest more into these 5 themes (and others), at a personal level and at a societal level! At a time when division seems fashionable, I find hope in the shared values I've experienced . As Maya Angelou so beautifully put it, 'we are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.'

Assume positive intent.