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Meera Syal works to be taught in U.K.

Hasan Suroor

LONDON: Meera Syal is among a host of immigrant writers whose work will be taught in British schools as part of a move to give a multicultural face-lift to school curriculum.

Ms. Syal, born and brought up in Britain, is regarded as one of the biggest Asian success stories in British arts and media — and a symbol of modern multicultural Britain having risen from the ranks, as it were, to become one of the country's most celebrated chroniclers of immigrant lives.

Best known in India for her novel "Anita and Me" — a semi-autobiographical novel about the teenage daughter of Punjabi immigrants growing up in Britain — Ms. Syal came to prominence with the TV show Goodness Gracious Me, a tongue-in-cheek take on Indian immigrants.

"Authentic voice"

Her other works include "Bhaji on the Beach", "Life Isn't All Haa Hee" and "The Kumars at No 42", co-presented with her husband Sanjeev Bhaskar, a well-known actor and broadcaster in his own right. The new curriculum for 11-14 year-olds recommends Ms. Syal as an "authentic voice'' from other cultures and traditions. Other immigrant writes whose works are on the new recommended reading list include the Afro-Caribbean poet Banjamin Zephaniah and the black American writer and poet Maya Angelou.

Controversially, some of the biggest names in British literature such as Lord Byron, James Joyce and John Milton have been dropped in order to accommodate voices from other cultures. Critics have branded it as "political correctness gone mad''.

The move comes at a time when multiculturalism is under attack and is blamed for hindering integration by laying too much emphasis on "celebrating'' cultural differences.

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