Tanveer Ahmed has written a memoir that entertains but also gives you something to think about. The Exotic Rissole explores mixed cultural relations. You get to travel the parallel paths, the intersections, the overlaps and the collisions. Your travelling companions are a sense of humour and an ability to reflect.
At the age of 5, Ahmed migrated from Bangladesh to Toongabbie, in western Sydney. In this new world, where everything felt so startlingly foreign, Ahmed gravitated towards that difference.
His first best friend, Darryl, lapped up the spices in the vegetable curry at Ahmed's place, but Ahmed yearned for the plain rissoles and baked potatoes at Darryl's. Ahmed's mother eventually learns to cook rissoles but in a Bangladeshi kind of way - with spices.
Ahmed has a hunger for life reflected in his writing. He is not satisfied with a single career path. He studies to be a doctor and works in diverse places upon completing his study and as an intern in Alice Springs and Bangladesh.
He works in journalism. He has a go as a stand-up comedian. He successfully auditions for television work. He takes time out for a gap year. He trains to be a psychiatrist.