I ride London's tube into work every day, and every day thousands of faces pass me. Some of them are Asian. And I wonder about their histories... were their parents the first generation or perhaps their grand parents? People of my late fathers age tell me that in the 50s and 50s seeing an Asian face across the street meant a bond of unity in an alien world and those chance encounters often led to lifetime friendships. Asians crossed the street to greet each other. It did not matter that the other person was Hindu, Muslim or Sikh, all Asians in the UK in the 50s and 60s had a common bond and embraced each other.

It's funny how in one or 1 1/2 generations how young Asians are so absorbed into UK society and listen to the same iPods, wear the same clothes and watch the TV. Everyone is in their own bubble and London is full of people who each have their own bubble, their own friends and family and responsibilities.

I wish Asians of all religions in the UK cold be closer to each other and less segregated into their respective segments... I have good friends from school who are Asian, but it is Asian strangers I have a bond with but am unable to express. Maybe it's a measure of Asian success that we don't even notice each other any more?

I get the sense that the term "Desi" applies more so in Canada and the USA - here in the UK there seems to be more factional and religious divides between the Asian consituencies... I still think of myself as Indian, as it was all India before being carved up and the mighty Indus river flows through Pakistan... to me people from Pakistan and India are part of the same.

I enjoy surprising an Asian shop assistant with a "shookria" instead of a "thank you" :)