South Asian Heritage Month
South Asian Heritage Month (SAHM) runs from 18th July to 17th August every year. It raises the profile of British South Asian heritage and history in the UK through education, arts, culture and commemoration, with the goal of helping people to better understand the diversity of present-day Britain. Its concept launch was in 2019 and the first SAHM was held in summer 2020.
SAHM is about reclaiming the history and identity of British South Asians. People need to be able to tell their own stories, and this is an opportunity to show what it means to be South Asian in the 21st century, as well as look to the past to see how Britain became the country it is today.
South Asian influences can be found everywhere in Britain, from our food and clothes to our music and even our words. The streets of our towns and cities are rich with the colours, sights and sounds of proud South Asian identity. Its culture permeates all parts of British life and adds to the richness of the nation.
South Asia is the southern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Every single one of those countries has been hugely impacted by its relationship with Britain, primarily through war, colonisation, and ultimately via the British Empire.
There are significant South Asian diaspora communities in many parts of the world. People of South Asian heritage are a significant part of the British population, and about 1 in every 20 people in the country (5% of Brits) are of South Asian heritage.
PREACH Inclusion® is proud to support SAHM to educate and foster better understanding within the property industry. This page is regularly updated with more SAHM content, stay tuned!
South Asian Community Stories
To mark South Asian Heritage Month 2020, we asked you to share your South Asian community stories with us. From Gujaratis in Harrow and Wembley, Punjabis in Southall and Handsworth, Bangladeshis in Tower Hamlets and Pakistanis in Bradford and Sparkhill, South Asians form the fabric of British society, influencing the development of communities, infrastructure and services.
The stories culminated into a live podcast event with Brown Don't Frown Podcast, where we dissected these housing stories further, drawing in themes such as renting, home ownership, intergenerational living and environmental conditions. Thank you to those who tuned into the event and shared their experiences with us. You can listen to the full podcast here.
We've collated all the contributions and shared them below so you can read about South Asian history and culture, and to continue your learning.
Renu with her father and grandfather.
Renu’s father in his shop.
Punjabis in Handsworth
Soho Road, Handsworth – so famous they made a song about it. Growing up in Handsworth it was a close-knit community across all ethnicities. My parents (like many others) owned their own business. In those days many people didn’t have a choice, or their education was not recognised, and so with no background in business they became entrepreneurs. My parent’s business still stands there with the same name, albeit run by a new family. Like many kids, I lived above the shop which never really closed as people knew we were inside eating our roti! After school, I would work in the shop whilst doing my homework on the counter or on my laps.
The evolution of Handsworth and Soho Road has been significant. From the 1960’s when Asian businesses were opening to now being more dominant, can be heard and seen in old pictures and story telling from elders. The impact on commerce in the area shaped the way the buildings now look and how they continue to develop.
There was no such thing as a ‘weekend’; owning a shop was a seven-day a week operation. My parent’s shop closed for half a day on a Sunday, and this was when the week’s paperwork would be done. They were shopkeepers, accountants, stock takers, shelf stackers and customer services rolled into one.
"You can take the Punjabi out of Handsworth, but you can’t take the Handsworth out of the Punjabi!"
This set the foundations for me and other kids of my generation to work hard so we could have a weekend. I ended up becoming a Chartered Town Planner and moved to London. From Monday to Friday I worked in Mayfair, while on Saturday and Sunday I worked in the shop.
A lot of the ‘original’ Punjabi community has now left Handsworth as people retire and the next generation move towards white-collar professions, but Handsworth remains the first steppingstone in establishing a future for new immigrants/communities. We all still come back to Handsworth to shop and eat and remember. You can take the Punjabi out of Handsworth, but you can’t take the Handsworth out of the Punjabi!
Renu Prashar Prinjha, former resident of Handsworth
Bangladeshis in Tower Hamlets, East London
My father came to work in the UK as early as the 1950s. There was a large influx of Bangladeshi men arriving as economic migrants with intentions to build back home and retire there. It was only because of the Bangladeshi genocide in the 1970s that a lot of the men brought their families over to the UK. Bangladeshi families mainly settled in the East London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Back then, no one could predict the current housing crisis so the majority continued to only invest back home instead of trying to settle long term in the UK. Most are still supporting their families back home. The Bangladeshi community is impacted the most by the changes in social housing as a lot of our families didn’t prioritise purchasing homes and they are feeling the impact the most now. Many live in overcrowded social housing.
"You need two salaries for a property but much of my generation struggle to find a compatible partner and it’s really sad that we have to be in a ‘relationship’ to afford a home."
As a first generation British Bangladeshi, the struggle is harder. There is no lineage of property to take out a secured loan against and parents don't have enough money to provide a deposit for a home for their children as they are just about making ends meet. You need two salaries for a property but much of my generation struggle to find a compatible partner and it’s really sad that we have to be in a ‘relationship’ to afford a home. Yes, the Asian culture has its benefits because it is a social norm for a married couple to move into the man’s family home. They could even have a few children there, and then move out once they have enough money for their own property. But moving in with your in-laws often comes with its own emotional stress that a lot of Asian women don’t speak about.
Soraya, Tower Hamlets, East London
East London.
Picture of the early members of the church.
Kerala Christians in the City of London
Nestled between Blackfriars pub and St Pauls Cathedral, St Andrews by the Wardrobe is a quaint church designed by Christopher Wren. But only on Sundays will you feel our presence, smell frankincense, hear ancient syriac and taste Keralan cuisine. I asked one of the last remaining elders, how the oldest community of Indian Christians in the UK ended up praying in the same church as Shakespeare?
Indian priests had been studying in the UK since 1930, and when a small community of Keralites formed, they met at the YMCA in Fitzroy Square. All the denominations prayed together and even Hindus came to hear their mother tongue. Our community grew with the need to staff the NHS and through our charming Bishop, in 1979 we secured our first home as a rent-free tenant of St. Andrews. But changes in landlord meant we were constantly haggling over rent; defending our need to cook food and the freedom to hang our pictures up.
We still rent St Andrews, but in 2002 the congregation pooled together and donated one months' salary each to buying our own church in South London. Today there are 20-something churches across the UK. I thanked him for my history, and with a smile he said: “Don’t forget that you are part of this history...come to church."
Aaron Matthew, Kerala Christian
“Brown Don’t Frown was borne out of a personal journey with womanhood. As a British Bangladeshi, navigating Western Feminism often felt exclusionary to me because it didn’t seem to value the experiences or views which shaped my grandmother’s, aunts’, mother’s or friends’ lives. I therefore sought to build a more inclusive discourse, which could break down the prejudice and presumptions about different cultures, and shine a positive light on the stories of underrepresented women, particularly Black and South Asian women, who do not fit the typical ideals of mainstream Feminism. ”
Priya Aggarwal-Shah
Gujaratis in Harrow
Harrow has the highest density of Gujarati Hindus in the UK. Most Gujaratis settled in Harrow after 1972, following their expulsion from Uganda. Others also came from Tanzania and Kenya.
Gujaratis were not welcomed in Harrow, yet the borough could not prevent Asian immigrants from settling in this part of London. The proximity of Harrow to large Asian settlements in north London made it attractive to the more established immigrants. The existing communities had build community centres, temples and formed associations, creating a chain effect, where Gujaratis had a reason and desire to settle within these areas. This fuelled further developments of cultural and religious organisations.
Additionally, Gujaratis have become a core part of British retail. As Bob Blackman, MP for Harrow East said in a recent parliamentary debate:
“Back in the 1970s our shops would open at 9 am, they would shut at 5 pm or 6 pm, they would close early on Wednesdays, and they were certainly not open on Sundays. Those Gujaratis clearly saw that there was an opportunity, and they went in and bought those shops, borrowing money to do so, and they ran them from about 6 am until 11 pm.”
Over the last few decades, Gujaratis have continued to make their mark in Harrow, transforming the character of the community and local authority. Within Harrow Council, there are over a dozen Gujarati councillors, highlighting the community’s importance and influence in making decisions which impact them and other ethnic minority groups in the borough.
Priya Aggarwal-Shah, Founder of PREACH Inclusion®
Professor Atul K. Shah at the Oshwal Centre in Potters Bar.
Jains in Britain
One of the oldest living religion’s of the world, Jain Dharma, has a bold presence in the UK through a living community of 40,000 people, many practicing a lifestyle of ahimsa or non-violence towards all living beings. We have also built community centres and temples all over the country, with the largest being the Oshwal Centre in Potters Bar, a 70 acre greenfield site, with a stunning temple which brings the unique Jain art and architecture to Britain.
“We celebrate South Asian Heritage Month as a constructive effort to showcase the best of one of the oldest living cultures of the world.”
Jains today are professionals, entrepreneurs, teachers, scholars and social activists, influencing their neighbourhoods and communities with outstanding & humble leadership, where their actions and character speak louder than words. We celebrate South Asian Heritage Month as a constructive effort to showcase the best of one of the oldest living cultures of the world.
Professor Atul K. Shah
London, where Tania feels she belongs.
Finding my belonging
My housing story is uniquely scattered. I was born in East London to Bengali migrants and spent the first ten years of my life there. 50% of the kids at my primary school were Bengali and its culture coloured my childhood.
Familial circumstances led me to move to South London when I was 10. At that age, it felt like a drastic change. Naturally, as a kid, the first thing that stuck with me was that only a handful of classmates in my year group were South Asian, most of them Indian. There were no community centres, shops, after school clubs, or even familial social gatherings centred around Bengalis. This dilution continued into my first year at secondary school in Wimbledon. I can’t say that I lived in South London long enough to say I belonged there.
We moved to Florida when I was 12. Compared to London, the habitation there felt barren, yet novel. As a child, the abundance of sunlight and palm trees brought me infinite joy. Once again, I wasn’t there long enough to call it home.
We returned to England when I was 14. This time, to Teesside, North Yorkshire. I quickly realised that small towns stifled me. I attended university in East Yorkshire, and spent a year abroad in Southern France.
I returned to London for my Master’s and have now lived here for over four years. This concrete jungle’s diversity, creativity and ambition are part of who I am. It’s where I belong.
Tania Hardcastle, London
For this year’s #SouthAsianHeritageMonth, we celebrate the stories of resilience and tenacity of the Ugandan Asians who came to the UK in the toughest of circumstances but who overcame adversity – not just for themselves but for their community too. BAME in Property committee member and Partner at Montagu Evans, Bhavini Shah, explores the influence of Ugandan Indians in the UK, especially Leicester.