YOUNG women from a Southampton estate have been learning about Indian health, beauty and leisure as part of a groundbreaking new course.

They found out about massage, food and facials and for their final get-together they put on saris and performed a dance routine from a Bollywood movie.

For many of the women from the Millbrook estate who attended the classes at The Link it was the first time they had experienced an Indian head massage, had a go at tie-dye or cooked samosas.

"It was a great experience for the women and they really seemed to enjoy all the things we did," said Caroline Sant, lead worker and centre manager.

"The aim was to create some cultural awareness between the white Millbrook girls and show them the beauty, health and leisure regimes of Indian women.

"They discovered there were lots of similarities and we should all embrace cultural diversity in today's society".

The women learned about baby massage and some are now using it with their own children.

Verity said: "I thought the baby massage group was interesting it stimulates the circulation and relaxes the baby."

While Leanne said she was fascinated by the theading class where they learned how to keep their eyebrows tidy the Indian way with cotton instead of tweezers.

The 20-week course was lead by Archana Master and she admitted she had enjoyed the experience.

"I am really going to miss them I won't have anything to do on a Tuesday afternoon now.

"They seemed to like learning something new," she said.

"The tie-dye they did was called bandhni and it is done in India specially for saris. They created a scarf."