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Southall: Little India – a cultural experience

How to get to Southall from Central London

You can take the tube to Paddington Station. From there, take the Heathrow Express Train (departing at platform 12). Southall is 4 stops away from Paddington. The journey takes approximately 15 minutes. The train leaves every 30 minute.


When you get out of the Southall station, you will see a signboard saying ‘Welcome to Southall’ written in both English and Gurmukhi, a script used for Punjabi language.


A description of Southall

Southall is located in London borough of Ealing, West London. Ealing is the third most populous borough in London. There are 14,711 Pakistani/ Pakistani British in the borough comprising 4.3% the population. Asian/ Asian British is the second largest ethnic group after white residents. The most dominant religion in the borough is Christian, representing 43% of the population. On the other hand, Muslim is ranked second with 16% of the population. (Office for National Statistics, 2012; Ealing 2011 Census Factsheet)


Southall Broadway is considered as “Little India” where people can find ethnic restaurants, spices, clothes, food, etc. from the Indian subcontinent. According to the 2011 Census Ealing Ward Profiles, the population of Southall Broadway is 13,439. 14.9% of the population is Pakistani/ Pakistani British. Sikh is the most dominant religion, representing 31% of the population. On the other hand, Muslim is ranked second with 25.8%. Unemployment rate is 6.1%. The top occupations are elementary jobs (25.1%), Sales and customer service (13.7%), Process, plant and machine operatives (11.6%).


Southall is the place for immigrants. After World War Two, immigrants from the British Commonwealth countries started coming to Britain and settled here. Southall has five different categories of community: White, Black, Sikh, Hindu, and Muslim. Each classification group is divided into further castes. South Asian community represents more than 60% of the Southall community. Muslim community includes Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, and others from Fiji, Indonesia, West Africa, etc.


Pakistani community in Southall mostly comes from either Punjab or Kashmir, particularly Mirpur. The first wave of mass migration from Pakistan was mainly due to the partition in India in 1947 which made many people displaced. The influx of educated and skilled immigrants from Punjab comprised mostly men who came during the time Britain was in the process of reconstructing and expanding its economy. (Ember, Ember, & Skoggard, 2005, p.475) In the 1960s, immigrants from Mirpur, one of the largest cities in Azad Kashmir, started arriving in Britain. The construction of the Mangla dam made the province submerged in the water and therefore the villagers became landless. (Shaw, 2000, p.30) Unlike their counterparts from Punjab, these newcomers were less educated and less skilled. They did not have much experience and therefore ended up working in the wool and cotton mills. (Ember, Ember, & Skoggard, 2005, p.476) There was a small minority Pakistanis coming from the northwest part of the country and they spoke Pashto. When these young men immigrants initially came, they did not expect to stay in Britain for long. They were temporary workers who wanted to earn a little more money and then returned home. However, it turned out that they started settling down and lived in the country permanently due to economic circumstances and for the sake of their children. These people laid a foundation for the creation of the Pakistani community in Britain. They established entrepreneurial businesses, opened restaurants, groceries stores and halal butcher shops to cater the need of their people. Furthermore, culinary, clothing and textile ventures sprang up. (Ember, Ember, & Skoggard, 2005, p.477)


According to Nasser (2004), Southall was initially a small village in a parish bequeathed by a priest. Southall is the home of immigrants. In the 19th century, people from other parts of Britain and Europe settled in the neighborhood. In 1920s, the large influx of Welsh migrants came to Southall to escape poverty. At first, there was a small population of the South Asian migrants in Southall. However, after the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 was passed, the population increased significantly as family reunion started taking place. During the post-war years, there was a labor shortage and therefore Britain was in a dire need for workers. The construction of Heathrow Airport in 1946 which was close to the neighborhood recruited a lot of migrant workers from Southall. 1980s was prevalent with protests, fight, and movements across the country. Immigrants suffered from the resentment of the local people. Many Britons perceived the foreigners as a burden on social housing, schools, and welfare systems. Tensions between ethnic minority group and the majority in Southall were serious. There were major riots that occurred in the area. In 1981, there was a conflict between a group of skinheads and local youths in Southall.


Besides the South Asian community, the East-Africans from Kenya and Uganda as well as the Somalis and Afghans arriving in the 1990s make up a great portion of Southall’s population. The Somalis had their own small part in Southall Green. Suffice to say, Southall is a diverse place with various castes, religions, faiths, languages, and cultures.


The cultural beauty

In Southall, you can see a good reflection of India. There are a variety of shops selling different products such as saris, colorful fabric, jewelry, Bollywood movies and CDs, shoes, cosmetics, spices, sweets and savouries, etc.


When you walk along The Broadway Street, one of the main streets in Southall, you can tell clearly the difference between this place and Central London. I felt very overwhelmed when I first came inside a jewelry store or a shoes shop. All the bangles, necklaces, earrings, hairpins were sparkling. The same thing applied to the shoes. They all had a bling-bling and classy look. This shows the interest of South Asians in gold and silver not only as a store of value but also as a way of beautifying oneself.



Moreover, there are a lot of shopping centers which sell Indian traditional clothing like sarees, salwar kameez, kurta, salwar and pantaloons. You can easily buy a salwar kameez for £15. But if you seek for high quality clothes, you should check out the fancy-looking shops on The Broadway Street. Some top quality pieces of clothing can cost £200 or £300. They are truly beautiful. Himalaya Palace is the largest indoor shopping center in Southall. The center used to be a cinema. It was built in 1929 and it has a design of a Chinese pagoda.


There are also a lot of Asian-owned travel agents, insurance agents, and banks in the neighborhood. Halal butcher’s is an integral part of the neighborhood which help cater to the Muslim community.







There are a few churches, mosques, temples, and gurudwara in Southall. On Havelock Road, Gurudwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha, the largest gurudwara outside India was opened in 2003. There is also one on Park Avenue which is close to the Southall Station.


If you have one day to spend in Southall, it is going to be a great little adventure.


References:


Ealing Council. Ealing 2011 Census Factsheet. Retrieved from https://www.ealing.gov.uk/downloads/download/2316/2011_census_factsheet


Ember, C. R., Ember, M., & Skoggard, I. A. (Eds.). (2005). Pakistani Migration and Diaspora Religious Politics in a Global Age. In Encyclopedia of diasporas: Immigrant and refugee cultures around the world. (pp. 475-484). New York, NY: Springer.


Nasser, N. (2004). Southall's Kaleido-scape: A study in the changing morphology of a west London suburb. Built Environment, 30(1), 76-103.


Office for National Statistics. (2012). 2011 Census: Key Statistics for local authorities in England and Wales [Data file] Retrieved from http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/key-statistics-for-local-authorities-in-england-and-wales/rft-table-ks201ew.xls


Shaw, A. (2000). Kinship and continuity: Pakistani families in Britain. Amsterdam: Harwood Academic




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