Three Pounds In My Pocket

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Three Pounds in My Pocket

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Kavita Puri hears the stories of Asians who came to Britain from the 1950s onwards.

Kavita Puri hears the stories of pioneering Asians who came to Britain from the 1950s onwards.

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Three Pounds in My Pocket: Series 4: Episode 1

Series 4

Episode 1

BBC Radio 4 - Three Pounds in My Pocket, Series 4, Episode 1

British South Asians and the 1990s: a golden decade

Kavita Puri hears stories from the second generation about a golden decade whem British South Asians were beginning to see themselves in the mainstream in  music and on television.

Since 2014 Kavita Puri has been charting the social history of British South Asians in post-war Britain. Many came with as little as three pounds due to strict currency controls. 

This series picks up where the last one finished - the fatwa against Salman Rushdie in 1989 - and begins by looking at the 1990s. The decade began with Norman Tebbit and his so-called 'cricket test', which questioned the loyalty of those who supported India over England in international cricket. It was a far cry from the multicultural Britain that would be ushered in by Tony Blair's New Labour in 1997. 

Amidst this changing political landscape, the children of the three pound generation were finding mainstream cultural success. Goodness Gracious Me was a hit on national television, films like East is East and Bhaji on the Beach found success, and there were hit records from acts like Apache Indian, Bally Sagoo and Panjabi MC. Regular British Asian music nights at commercial venues began, such as Bombay Jungle at Soho's Wag Club, and soon hundreds were queuing up in central London to get in.
Producer: Ant Adeane
Editor: Hugh Levinson

Historical consultants:
Dr Florian Stadtler, University of Exeter
Dr Edward Anderson, Northumbria University

Three Pounds in My Pocket: Series 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Kavita Puri follows the stories of the 'three pound generation' into the 1990s

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Three Pounds in My Pocket

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