Hindu temple in India?
Nah, bang in the middle of terraced housing on the Ealing Road in Alperton, west London. Thousands of soccer fans from all over the country will pass it to see matches at Wembley after the stadium reopens later this year. Before the advent of the ‘Paki shop’ in the 1970s — or to use the more polite term ‘Paki retail outlet’ — most shops were closed on Sundays in the UK and few were open beyond 6pm on week days. Then the high streets caught on, despite protests from the church. So if you ever see a racist out shopping on a Sunday tell them to go home where they came from.
Supermarkets in the UK now even sell curries in the distinctive brown paper bags of Indian restaurants. There is a Star of India — or some such — in London’s Pimlico that displays in its window a framed photocopy of a tabloid front page that shows Princess Di not dining in, but walking past it. How’s that for an accolade — Diana walked past my shop!
soul bean café 