The point is we are a cruel and nasty bunch all round. We like to think we are really good decent folk. But we ain’t.

And that my dear readers has got to do with our language. It is a cruel language at best filled with profanities and sarcasm.

This manifests best in our description of weight.

‘Mota’ meaning fatty is of course complimented with the word ‘motee’ (the female person who is a little overweight) or ‘motay’ (a group of overweight people).

Or should I use the word ‘Jariah’?

We came to this country as the sons and daughters of farmers, tailors, butchers, cleaners and cooks. We ate not out of want but out of need.

Then something strange happened.

In the past when one was a little overweight he was praised. At the time we did not ridicule him so much.

Yes, some poor ******* would end up being called ‘Mota Abdul’ but it was all in jest really. And we only did that because there was a ‘Gora Abdul’ and ‘Kala Abdul’ and the system required us to differentiate between types of Abduls due to their supposed ‘ailments’.

On the whole ‘Mota’ was a sign of respect and we would never body shame him – well, not to his face anyway.

This was because he had ‘jaan’ (Body-healthy). Skinny kids were made out to be some sort of lepers who were shunned by the masses.

He had Jaan and he was great.

But he wasn’t was he? He was obese and we let that fascination with ‘jaan’ get the better of us.

As the factory workers died off one by one and the mums who could cook rotee tried and failed to pass on their skills to their Sheela Shanee daughters we kind of well…got even fatter.

We ate. And then we ate some more. We all want to be perceived as these charitable, modest people but we gorge on the excess food at weddings and family occasions like animals in a trough.

There are mountains of food at every gathering and the shame of not having enough food makes us cook more.

Before you knew it, we were getting as fat as the Arabs in the Middle Eastern kingdoms who waddle from gleaming shopping centre to designer stores in their jubbahs. Only getting out of their vehicles to fill their mouths with more steaks and burgers.

‘Mota’. I like mota he had jaan and I guess he had style but I don’t like those who made us motay.