The first South Asians in Leeds remember the BBC broadcasts

In the year By the early 2000s, British Asian culture was entering the mainstream.

In between that shift was Bobby Friction, who now presents on the BBC Asia Network.

“The revolutions of the 1990s paved the way for the startups to get rich,” he recalls.

“‘Goodness Gracious Me’ was big for us – that British desi joke was on national TV.”

As he felt, watching actors from the same parts of London, “the revolution was happening not just in my head, but across the country.”

“In 2002, Radio 1 decided to do a South Asian music show and Nihal Arthanayake and I were chosen to host it.

“Since I was 15, my dream was to play South Asian music on Radio 1.”

That same year, the Asian network went international, and Desi DNA was launched.

“Suddenly, you’re in this new age that started before the other age even ended.

“If you were young at that time and you were coming of age South Asian, it was very, very different compared to 10 years ago.”