this was a book by writer Meera Syal who is an asian lady in the uk, and she wrote this about 3 best friends, asian women, and their lives with their marriages and so on. i've never read the book but the bbc are televising it, it started tonight. it was based around east london, and the show started with one character's wedding. the other two were guests. one in an unhappy marriage and the other a single career girl.

the one in the unhappy marriage was a self harmer, and it showed her harming - i wasn't expecting it to be so... graphic on bbc1 at 9.30 pm, but it was really well done, not graphic for the sake of it, but graphic to make a point.

the whole thing had me in floods to be honest - not just the s/h part (which was the first time i was triggered like that in a long time), but the way in which it highlighted just how much tradition can distort reality, and people's ideas about humanity. for instance the girl who got married was subject to domestic violence, but due to her upbringing she believed it was "normal" - it was so saddening....