Unimagined

By Imran Ahmad

“A Muslim Boy meet the West”

“Part White Teeth, part Adrian Mole, Unimagined is the hilarious and captivating memoir of a Muslim boy born in Pakistan, who moves to London aged one and grows up torn between his Islamic identity and his desire to embrace the West.”

This book is a year by year narration of the authors life, up until age 25. It was a beautifully written book, painfully honest and funny. One of the crucial reasons as to why I like this book so much is my ability to empathise with the author, for I too am an Asian, Muslim and growing up in the West. As a first generation Asian Muslim growing up in England during the 1970/80’s he discusses topics such as racism, cultural expectations and boundaries, and religious discovery. One of the key features of this book was his struggle with his Identity. Throughout his life, Ahmad sought to be the “quintessential English gentleman”, however could never fully assimilate into British culture. The author who is now 45 has left me wishing I could have Unimagined; Part2, filling me in on the next 20 years of his life. It is his unquestionable honesty that makes this book such a pleasure to read and I would love to have know his thoughts and feelings on topics such a arranged marriages, fatherhood and his job, which were beginning to be touched upon before the end of the book. I can only hope Imran Ahmad realises the art of blogging, if only for my own personal curiosity.

When returning to University in September we begin to research and write our dissertations. My chosen topic is to question the lack of Asian people used within the advertising and marketing. This book merely emphasises that even 30 years on, minority cultures are still, perhaps, are being ignored, or neglected somewhat in mainstream advertising, questioning further whether we are still not seen as fully integrated into British culture and society.