On a chilled and cold Autumn Friday Cristina Vaccaro hanged around Southall, the Little India of the London Borough of Ealing
On the short bus ride from Boston Manor to Southall station we were surrounded by children of varying ethnic heritage; English, Indian, Black and other Asian loudly discussing and greeting each other. Once in Southall we understand why the place is dubbed “Little India”, our senses are tickled by all things Indian. The loud music blaring from the shops, the beautiful, colourful saris hanging in shop windows, the delicious looking food and spices displayed on the stalls, everything about the place screams India. In fact, although Southall is home to a significant number of people from the Indian subcontinent, you would be fooled to think of Southall as ethnically homogenous as it is also home to of more recent arrivals from Africa as well as the old white British communities.
We go for a stroll along the chaotic streets and soon come across the Himalaya Palace Cinema where Bollywood films are advertised on the board, by the look of satisfaction on the faces of the people passing while humming Indian songs the film must have been good. As well as claiming the first pub which accepts rupees, Southall is home to a library with a wide choice of books in different languages; English, Punjabi, Hindi, Gujarati, Urdu, Bengali, as well as Arabic, and Somali.
One thing that you will not miss in Southall are the many religious sites, Mosques, Hindu temples, Roman Catholic and Pentecostal churches, Synagogues, but one stopover which is a must for all visitors to this surreal and wonderful place is the Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Sikh temple, which is where we head next. Located in Havelock Road it is impossible to miss this imposing and magnificent building which is the biggest temple in the world outside India. We enter the temple in awe and soon learn the true fashion of Sikh hospitality and kindnesses of this welcoming community whose principles are to live according to the teaching of Guru Singh Sabha.
The temple has an upstairs where people are sitting listening to the prayers coming out from speakers. We sit on the carpeted floor and observe the people who are lost in their own prayers and we are soon lost in our thoughts. After a while we slowly venture downstairs and come across what looks like a big dining room where people are sat on the floor eating and chatting freely. We put our heads in and are quickly invited in and given food. Men behind the counter serve us vegetarian curries and bread, we sit on the floor and we happily chat while eating the delicious food and drinking Indian chai, some of us go for second helpings obviously. We could stay like this for ever but unfortunately it is getting late so we have to leave and catch the bus to the station, and so reluctantly set off back home but determined to return soon.
