Guest Blogger TikiChris Explores Little India with Nidhi

SharedCity is a new London venture specializing in cultural walking tours in areas with immigrant communities. I tagged along on a recent saunter through “Little India” – aka Ealing Road – near Wembley Stadium in the West London borough of Brent.

If there’s one thing I love about living in London it’s that even after a decade of calling this city home I still find that there’s plenty to see and do. Take Ealing Road for example. Who knew it was such a vibrant place for a taste of authentic Indian culture? Well, thousands of mostly Gujarati immigrants, obviously, as well as the team behind SharedCity and surely lots of other people too. Just not me … until now.

I got so much out my stroll along Ealing Road with SharedCity. I loved every bit – from visiting the ornate and impressive Shri Sanatan Hindu Mandir “Wembley Temple” to browsing the aisles of Venisons saree shop and the Sanskruti shop in its basement with row upon row of cultural and religious items for the home. Foodie that I am, I very much enjoyed the end of our tour recapping what we experienced over a vegetarian thali (a platter with several small dishes) at local favourite, Asher’s Africana Restaurant. I even tried paan (a betel leaf-wrapped confectionery usually taken to refresh breath after a meal) for the first time from Panachand Pan House.

I don’t think I would have had quite as thorough a visit to the area if I’d gone on my own. I certainly wouldn’t have had the ‘backstage access’ at some of the venues or insider knowledge offered by my guides. The tour was as educational as it was fun.

Beyond the opportunity to discover a new (to me) part of town, the tour was a fun way to meet folks who proudly share and celebrate London’s immigrant heritage and are eager to learn about the vibrant cultural collage that makes it such a dynamic and unique city.

The Little India tour is but one in the SharedCity portfolio (and one still in development as I understand it). Other “destinations” include South India, Turkey, Italy, Norway and Finland, Brazil and Portugal, and more (such as tours of Arabic London and Jewish London) – all in one city!

SharedCity’s tours are priced from £20 (that’s about US$30 at the time of this post’s publication). Most tours include some sort of food and drink tastings if not a full meal. Find out more at sharedcity.co.uk.

[Originally Posted  by Chris Osburn here]

What's in a name? Quite a lot actually. One of our Co-founders tells all.

I've got blue-gray eyes, light brown hair that falls straight to my shoulders, a smallish nose and round pink cheeks.  I certainly wouldn't look out of place in Ireland.  But I'm not Irish.

My first name is Caroline (English? French?) and my surname 'Bourne' doesn't give any clues about my heritage either: Bourne is a surname traditionally given to a person who lived by a spring, from the olde English word 'burne'.  I grew up in England and no-one has ever asked where I come from. My name fits in.  The only time someone misspelt it and I received a letter addressed to 'Ms Porn' I laughed a lot.

Yet my surname 'Bourne' isn't English at all.  My grandfather changed it.  

Papa Jack was born in 1914 in West Ham, London, as Isaac Baum, the eldest son of Yosef Baum, a market trader.  In 1930s London his German-Jewish name meant that certain doors were closed to him. He was known by the name Jack as a boy. Jack is the anglicised form of Isaac.  Jack was a studious boy and eventually qualified as a doctor, leaving the market stall far behind him.  

He changed his surname in 1940 when he joined the army and became an army doctor.  A German name in the British Army would have made life difficult.  So to make life easier he changed his surname from Baum to Bourne and traveled through Africa and the Middle East tending to wounded soldiers during the war years.

Changing surnames wasn't new in the family.  His father's father had arrived in England as Hirsch Kirschbaum in the 1880s and soon shortened the family name to Baum.  Again to make life easier. 

To me and anyone who knows some German it seems strange to have an affection for a name that simply translates as 'Tree' (or in the longer form of Kirschbaum, 'Cherry Tree') but the circumstances - and long term effects - of the name-change intrigues me.  My grandfather's actions have meant my name has been pretty easy to live with.

It's pretty easy to change your name according the the government <a href="https://www.gov.uk/change-name-deed-poll/make-an-adult-deed-poll" target="_hplink">deed poll</a> service. People like Westminster attacker Khalid Masood had changed his name from Adrian Elms; and David Jones famously became David Bowie.  More and more people are changing their names.  Not everyone opts for a stand-out or spiritual name: the most popular chosen new name is the rather anonymous 'John Smith'.  

Why was your name chosen for you? What does it mean?  Where does it come from? Sometimes the meaning is explicit and sometimes it's hidden.  Sometimes it's chosen for you, and sometimes you choose it.  

I've got a simple Anglo Saxon surname that hides my deep rich Jewish heritage.  My Anglo Saxon name 'Bourne' hides tales of flights from Poland, Russia & Spain and refugees finding stability in east London slums, it hides stories of boxers, rabbis, gamblers and fighters. I've got used to my secret identity and now I'm not sure I would like it any other way.  

Have you changed your name? Does your name define you?

We've Been A City of Migrants For A Long Long Time

History books show that our nation has nearly always been made up of people from different countries, some war-mongering, some friendly, some looking for opportunities, some truly desperate.

We Londoners are a mixed up society and a;though this isn't always easy it has made us one of the most tolerant and easy-going cities in the twenty-first century.

Look at the century timeline below and next time you see a scaremongering headline about immigrants, think about the shared ever-evolving history of our city #LoveLondon

250AD Romans arrive in Britain and build a lot of straight roads (that still work today)

700AD Danes & Norwegians invade and settle (mainly in more northern parts) 

1066AD William the Conqueror wins the Battle of Hastings & the Normans arrive

1100AD Jews are invited to settle in England to help King with his grand plans for growth

1100AD Flemish merchants from the Netherlands join in the economic prosperity

1500AD Political change means Gypsies & Huguenots flee to London to avoid persecution

1600AD Africans and West Indians begin to be brought to England as slaves

1790AD Refugees from the French revolution arrive

1700AD First records of Indian & Chinese sailors in London

1800AD Jewish refugees from Poland, Ukraine and Russia arrive

1800AD Irish people fleeing famine in Ireland arrive

1800AD The growth of the empire & trade routes brings more people from China and India

1900AD Belgians fleeing the battles of the First World War arrive

1930AD, Refugees fleeing Nazi oppression in Germany arrive

1940s Homeless refugees from across wartorn Europe arrive, mainly from Poland

1950ADJamaicans are invited by the government to help rebuild post-war Britain

1950AD More settlers from many Commonwealth nations arrive to help rebuild the economy

1970AD Asians are forced to leave Uganda and come to the UK seeking refuge

1980AD Refugees from Romania and former Yugoslavia arrive fleeing war

1990AD After the break up of Yugoslavia, refugees arrive seeking sanctuary

1999 War in Sri Lanka leads to more refugees and asylum seekers arriving

2000s Changes within the EU result in economic migrants from every European country

And on...and on...and on.

We are a city of immigrants!