GLASGOW's public transport famously came to a near standstill on the
day when war broke out between India and Pakistan in 1965, as the city's
appalled bus drivers and clippies waited for news.
Glasgow -- where Scotland's first purpose-built mosque was opened in
1984 -- has always been home to the majority of our Asian population. In
1950 there were 600 Asians in the whole country, but the numbers quickly
grew as newcomers left the Commonwealth to join Britain's booming
post-war economy ahead of the Tories' 1962 immigration ban.
Many settled first in England, moving north when local industries
faltered, and today a life of long hours and hard work in
self-employment has become almost a tradition for the 30,000 Asian
Scots. Some two-thirds of Asian families own a business -- perhaps a
grocer's or draper's, a video shop or restaurant, a wholesaling or
property-development or insurance-broking company. A new generation is
growing up with Scotland the land of their birth, and sometimes with
less respect for the arranged marriages, sobriety, and fasting of their
parents' culture.
Javed Akhtar, 41, runs the Price Cutter 5 discount supermarket in
Govan with his wife, his two sons, and two part-time employees.
J A: ''I was 12 when I came to Britain from a small village near
Faisalabad. It was near Christmas time when we arrived, and when I saw
the snow outside, I was amazed; I thought someone had put sugar out to
dry.
''My father was a farmer in Pakistan. He had a friend in Huddersfield,
and we settled there and he worked in textiles. I went to school there,
and there were jobs then, I served my time at David Brown Tractors, and
ended up an inspector. But I had this idea in the back of my mind, to be
my own gaffer.
''Quite a few Asian people from Huddersfield had settled in Glasgow,
and said it was better here than England if you wanted to go into
business. So we moved up in the early eighties, and I got a shop in
Knightswood with a friend. It was a very small affair. Turnover was only
three grand, so we had to survive on that; we had the boys, and we made
economies and saved and managed to get by.
''Everything about Glasgow was bigger, and the language was a bit of a
problem in the beginning. But I found the people were friendly enough.
We moved to another shop, myself and the missus, and then another one,
and about a year ago we came here. The hours are excellent -- I had been
working 12 hours a day, seven days a week -- and I wanted to spend a bit
more time with the family. The kids are growing up, and I wanted to take
them places on a Sunday and things like that.
''I went back to Pakistan a few years ago, and it was unbelievable.
Everything seemed so small, and I found the weather very very hot, it
was unbearable, actually. And the carry-on is very different, all this
bartering system, I found it a really tiring experience. I like to see a
price and compare it with their competitors, but you just can't do
that.''
Asif Akhtar is 15.
A A: ''I was born in Huddersfield, but we moved here when I was about
three, and I'm Scottish. It's mostly at primary school you get kids
running about calling you names and that, because you're Asian. But it's
just immaturity. I go to Hillhead High, and I've got a lot of friends
now, it's great.
''Working in the shop is my way of getting money, and to help my Dad,
but I don't enjoy it. It's the same old thing every day. When we moved
here I thought it would be more violent, because Govan's got a bit of a
reputation, but it's all right. People are quite friendly. We sell
mostly anything to do with groceries, but people buy more cigarettes
than anything else.
''I'm a Muslim, and I definitely believe in it, I'm pretty strong on
most of it. But I haven't been to Pakistan since I was eight. I was
supposed to go this summer, but I wanted to go to Gran Canaria with my
brother and some friends, so we went there instead. It was great.''
Like his brother, 14-year-old Atif Akhtar helps in the shop after
school and in the holidays.
A A: ''When I was wee, I didn't really have to work here, I just kept
my mother company and ate sweeties and that. Now, I like stacking
shelves -- it passes the time quicker -- but I usually just serve with
my brother.
''And I get a sore head just working on the till. There's no young
people come in, and you get 'that's too dear, this is too dear'. I say
'talk to the boss, he's in the back'. My Dad's changing the name of the
shop to AAA Grocers, after me and my brother and my wee sister, Asiah. I
don't mind it; it's different.
''But I'm definitely going to go from school to college. I don't want
to end up in a shop. It's hard work and long hours, and I want my
holidays and that.''
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