A little odd perhaps for one who seems so well-established on the UK entertainment and media scene.

But the “Who am I?” question that taxes so many children of immigrant families in the UK clearly still figures large in his thinking.

Hardeep, born to a family of Indian stock who settled in Glasgow, this month reports on a journey to India to further examine the British-Sikhi equation – or should that be British-Scottish-Sikhi-Indian equation?

He does it in a book, Indian Takeaway, and as he is a comedy scriptwriter it’s no surprise that it’s a lively read, but it is a thought provoking work as well, built as it is around some gently confrontational situations.

A runner-up on BBC1’s Celebrity Masterchef, Hardeep decided that he should extend his journey of self-discovery by cooking his way around India!

He served up very British meals for a variety of people. And placing before them such dishes as fish and chips, shepherd’s pie, cock-a-leekie soup and the traditional Sunday roast, had sometimes hilarious, sometimes humiliating, outcomes.

And what conclusions did he draw from these encounters and other experiences?
Well, I doubt that we are giving much away if we say that he did not return with the answers to the many uncertainties that lie just beneath the surface of modern British Sikhism. But it is a highly enjoyable traveller’s tale, with moving moments to cherish.

Father-of-two Hardeep made a name as co-writer of the Channel 4 comedy Meet the Magoons – and is much in demand as a contributor to BBC2’s Newsnight Review and numerous radio programmes including Radio 4’s Question Time.

Turban-clad, he’s makes a strong impression, sometimes improbably combining the turban with a kilt, a gesture that suggests he wants us all to consider the possibility that cultural differences can be that easily reconciled.

Food for thought – whether it be British, Scottish, Sikhi or Indian.

J.C.

Sandeep Singh “Sonny” Caberwal, 29, was recruited for a campaign promoting the Kenneth Cole men’s clothing brand, but it was also used by the controversial fashion mogul to support diversity by exposing stereotypes.

The campaign was entitled “We all walk in different shoes”.

As well as Sonny Caberwal, it featured a paralympic athlete, a feminist, Israeli and Palestinian film directors, a quadraplegic rugby player, a US soldier wounded in Afghanistan, a gay married couple, an HIV positive journalist and an immigrant mother.

Kenneth Cole has previously made headlines by raising issues ranging from Aids awareness to homelessness and the use of fur in clothing manufacture.

Seeking a suitable Sikh male, Mr Cole’s casting agency not unexpectedly drew a blank among modelling agencies which have traditionally seen turban wearing as a limitation for models. The agency had to contact Sikh organisations and that’s how the search reached the ears of Sonny Caberwal, who has always worn a turban.

Kenneth Cole stipulated that his Sikh had to be highly educated and Sonny Caberwal certainly fits the bill.

Son of a doctor, he was born in North Carolina, and graduated from Duke University and the Georgetown University Law Centre. He was a practising attorney in Manhattan before changing direction to co-found tea retailer Tavalon Tea.

He entered the fashion world in October 2007 hoping the awareness generated by the ad campaign would benefit his community in a country where violent attitudes towards Muslim extremists sometimes spill over on to Sikhs. His brother-in-law is among those who have been subjected to taunts, physical threats and job discrimination.

Kenneth Cole wanted his campaign to teach that Sikhs are ordinary US citizens “who wear cool clothes and think just like other Americans”, said Mr Caberwal and he himself now uses his poster boy celebrity to speak out about religious intolerance and negative stereotyping.

On a website associated with Harvard University, he draws attention among other things to harassment experienced by many Sikh children in American schools.

He says the US schools curriculum glosses over the Sikh religion and many American youngsters’ perceptions of turbans and beards are influenced by media portrayals of the Taliban and terrorism.

Mr Caberwal says the Kenneth Cole campaign has given Sikh children the opportunity to feel proud of their Sikh identity at school, where they may previously have experienced hatred.

Mr Johnson, who has a reputation for committing resounding political gaffes with ill-judged comments, says he is going to work to unite communities in the capital.

The mayor has declared that he wants to support events that bring people together.

He will be expected to build bridges with the city’s ethnic minority groups, after being accused during his election campaign of being a divisive figure who could not represent all of the metropolis.

The Vaisakhi celebration was the triumphant Tory’s first official engagement after his victory over Labour’s Ken Livingstone.

He dismissed suggestions he would not support such festivals as “a canard floated by the outgoing mayor”.

He said: “One of the wonderful things we have got in London is fantastic diversity – we have got the whole world in a city.”

Mr Johnson’s indiscretions have incurred the wrath of the cities of Liverpool and Portsmouth and he also caused controversy when he described past Tory Party in-fighting as “Papua New Guinea-style orgies of cannibalism and chief-killing”.

Papua New Guinea’s high commissioner in London objected to this comparison and drew an apology of sorts from Mr Johnson, who said: “I meant no insult to the People of New Guinea who I’m sure lead lives of blameless bourgeois domesticity in comparison to the rest of us.”

Men’s magazine GQ voted Boris Johnson its Politician of the Year at its annual awards ceremony on September 3.