I am Mohammad Shahid Bhatti, called Bhatti by my family and friends. 

I am Pakistani and I work as an auto electrician. 

I learned it from Khawar Rizvi, I have been working with him for the last 5 years. 

This car has issues with its heating system. We have ordered a new heating mattress and today we are fixing it. In the heating system of the car, the water circulates in very narrow pipes. Normally, people use tap water which has minerals that get in the pipes and block them, and if the car’s water pump gets rusty, it will block the pipe. So, we diagnose the problem first and then solve it accordingly.

When I came to the UK, I started to learn this work and enjoyed it.

In Pakistan, everybody has a dream to go abroad.  I wanted to go to Switzerland, I had no plans to come to the UK . But it was my destiny. I came to London first, then after two months I moved to Manchester. So I have been here for 15 years.

Normally people don’t forget their birth place but I have forgotten it. I feel now that Manchester is my city because I know the places here , I know the people here , so I feel it’s my home now. I love this city.

Normally, I don’t drink English tea, maybe just once or twice a year. I like this peshawari qehwa, it’s a special qehwa. We crush the green cardamom first, add 3 or 4 leaves of qehwa, sugar and pour  boiled water and then mix it well.

I learned it from my grandad’s house because I used to visit them in Peshawar when I was in Pakistan.

Normally I get lunch from home, which my wife cooks for me, but I am on a diet these days. I used to run 5-6 miles a day, but then I stopped and now I just walk. I used to run along Princess Parkway, to Didsbury, then to Wilbraham Road. Sometimes I’d run around Hulme as well. I’d run alone, mostly in the morning.

Just now, it’s 4pm in Pakistan, so my mum will be thinking about cooking something. Or maybe she’s already cooking at this time. In our house, everybody loves meat, so she’ll be cooking something with that. If I don’t eat meat, I feel like I haven’t had a proper meal.