These two pages form an extract of a script developed by young people from the Eastside Young Writers and Performers Group. In February 2002, the group of 15 – 20 year olds, developed this script in the style of text messaging used on mobile phones. The project was called ‘Stories Not For Txting’, and followed on from a previous project ‘Stories Not For Telling’ in 2001. Led by Mán Melá ‘s artistic director Dominic Rai, the workshops were dedicated to working around the real life stories of London’s East End. They aimed to provide an opportunity for young people to write and perform the stories through their own eyes.

This script portrays the initial thoughts about the physical appearance and cultural background of two young girls, one having arrived from London in Bangladesh, and the other a Bangladeshi relative seeing the girl from London, both forr the first time.