What's it like to be a Brit-Asian?

Meenal Odedra talks about what it means to her to be British as well as Asian, and why some Asian stereotypes are so dated

the media should steer clear of stereotypical images of Asians and focus on real role models like Jay Sean

Recently I've heard a lot of talk about the importance of sticking to your roots, being true to your culture and honouring your nation's history. But for many of us living and growing up in Britain, that's easier said than done. For people like me, a simple question like 'where are you from?' has no easy answer.

I've always described myself as a British Asian girl, but even I don't really know what that means. What is it that makes you British? Speak the language with no foreign accent? Supporting England in the World Cup? Knowing who's running the Queen Vic in Eastenders? Occasionally I'm reminded that having the right skin colour would definitely help, and it makes me wonder whether I'll ever feel like I really belong here.

I suppose, if I've never felt British enough, maybe I should have looked to India to find my roots. But the sad thing is that, as a young person growing up in a minority, I always felt I needed to distance myself from my Indian culture in order to fit in with others. It doesn't help that, despite five long centuries of Asian immigration to Britain, the people around us are completely oblivious to our history. It's frustrating continually having to explain why I can't speak 'Indian', because actually no such language exists, and few people have even heard of India's caste system, which groups different 'Indians' within India. Our national curriculum does not allow space to teach about India and Pakistan's independence, so, with many Asians now being born in the UK, students have little chance to learn about their own multicultural society and ignorance is socially accepted.

It's important that our British media steers clear of the stereotypical images of Asians in society; the turbaned shopkeeper, the heavily accented taxi driver and the uneducated housewife, because these images are largely untrue. In place of these fictional characters, we now have real role models which we should allow to inspire the youth of today. Asian DJs, Bobby Friction and Nihal for example, singer Jay Sean, and our very own Apprentice star, Tre Azam, to name but a few.

Just as the new hip-hop-bhangra fusion combines two cultures, I think it's about time that, as a society, we stopped looking back and started embracing all the influences around us. I've finally learnt to embrace both my cultures and by looking to other Brit Asians around me, I've begun to feel a sense of unity. I'm proud of being Asian now, and of being British, and that, to me, is what it's like to be a Brit-Asian.