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Little India around the Globe
‘Little
India is an ethnic enclave containing a large population of
Indian people within a society where the majority of people
are not Indian’ - Wikipedia.
On This Page, we feature Little India in Singapore,
London (England) and Canada.
You may also be interested in the Little
India in America Section. Check out the featured story:
Little India: Six blocks, many stories
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Picture
source: southall-punjabi.com
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Little
India, Indian Street, India Bazaar, India Town are generic
names for streets or locales with larger concentration of
South Asian shops, bazaars, restaurants botiques and businesses.
Though popularly known as ‘Little India’ or Indian Street,
these locales are generally an eclectic mix of businesses
and entrepreneurs from the Indian subcontinent – Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka - and not India alone. People
of Indian origin, those from Singapore, Malaysia and the African
continent enjoy their ‘Little India’ identity in the western
society. Named communities tend to endure as we see with Korea
Town and China Town (example: SFO’s
Chinatown) that are known for distinctly ethnic
shopping experiences.
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Gerrard
Street East, Toronto, Canada. Gerrard India Bazaar
is one of the largest markets for South Asian goods
and services in North America with over 100 shops, restaurants
and bazaars representing regional diversities of South
Asian culture. Wikipedia
says "The portion between Greenwood and Coxwell
Avenues is commonly referred to as "Little India"
or "Gerrard India Bazaar", or "South
Asian Bazaar". There are numerous Pakistani, Indian,
Sri Lankan restaurants, cafés, videos/DVD stores,
clothing shops, and electronic goods stores catering
to the Indo-Canadian and Pakistani-Canadian communities
located in this neighbourhood. It is home to one of
the largest South Asian marketplaces in North America,
the other large similar marketplace being Devon Avenue
in Chicago in the United States."
Gerrard Street East includes restaurants, businesses
selling videos, DVDs, music and the latest from Bolloywood
films among other products. Fashion needs of the South
Asian community are served by boutiques selling designer
clothes, silks, embroideries and ornately sequined pieces.
Jewelers sell gold and ornaments from all parts of the
world - Dubai, India, Pakistan, Singapore. Web Link:
.Gerrard
India Bazaar,
Dundas
Street, Mississauga - The intersection of Dundas
street West and Hurontario (Highway 10) is centrally
located in Toronto suburb of Mississauga
where one can find everything Indian starting from Grocers,
Jewellers, furnitures to Salwar, Sarees showrooms, Indian
restaurants, take-aways etc.
Brampton.
Singhdale"- The town of Springdale in Brampton
is commonly referred to as "Singhdale" because
of the many Sikhs that live there. The first people
to inhabit the area around where Brampton is located
were doubtlessly Indians. One can find lots of Indian
Restaurant, Grocers and others catering to Asians &
Indians. Gore Road in Brampton is a popular landmark
for Indian shops, grocers and restaurants.
Punjabi
Market - The Punjabi Market or Little India is a
small commercial district in Vancouver, British Columbia
officially recognized by the city as being primarily
Indo-Canadian businesses. This is a 5 block section
of Main Street around 49th Avenue in the Sunset neighbourhood.
There are a number of Indian restaurants, sweet shops,
grocers and Punjabi video stores as well as other businesses
that cater primarily to an Indo-Canadian Market. [Wikipedia].
The Punjabi market is
the epicenter of commerce and culture for Vancouver's
large Indo-Canadian population. The Punjabi Market in
Vancouver (Situated between 48th and 51st Avenue) has
an assortment of Indian restaurants, sweet shops, fabric
stores, green grocers, and gold jewelers. Indians in
Vancouver mainly live in the suburb of Surrey.
[Official
website] |
Picture source: Little India (Wikipedia) |
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Little
India, Singapore - the center for the large Indian
community.
The streets of Little India are full of stalls selling
Indian goods. The Chinese signs are hardly seen on shophouses.
Infact, they are replaced with Tamil, Hindi, Bengali and
other more exotic Indian scripts. Little India's main
attraction is Serangoon Road. Around Deepavali, Serangoon
Road is festively decorated. Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple
at Serangoon Road is Little India's busiest and oldest
temple, dating back to 1881. Mustafa Centre is one of
Singapore's supreme discount departmental store, where
one can find absolutely everything at rock-bottom prices.
Little India MRT Station is an underground Mass Rapid
Transit (MRT) station on the North East Line in Singapore
and as the name implies, serves the ethnic neighbourhood
of Little India.
"Singapore wasn't too much of a foreign land in any
case. Maybe it was because I was of Tamil origin and the
Tamils have a shared history spanning nearly 200 years
with Singapore, it felt closer to home than Hyderabad
ever did. For one thing, in addition to being written
in English, Chinese and Malay, the street signs and public
messages everywhere were also written in Tamil'. For more
on this please click My
Singapore Story. |
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Southall
in west London, also know as "mini Punjab Southall"
The place is about five miles from Heathrow airport and
like a pilgrimage that nearly every Indian visiting London
makes. The place is full of Indian shops and restaurants.
One can get the latest fashions in sarees or salwar kameez.
There are general stores also offering all the dals, pickles,
rice, atta, and fresh vegetables. Music stores blaze the
latest Indian songs. Lahori restaurant is one of the best
in Southall. Here the food is cooked in front of you as
you wait. Glassy Junction pub,a typical Punjabi pub where
one can even make the payment in Indian rupees. For
more details
click
Birmingham Indian Community: Research in Birmingham Central Library shows that the Indian community in Birmingham was established by the early 1900s. In 1924 an Indian opticians operated in Bath Row. There is also a record that in the 1930s an Indian student came here to train in the fire service.
Many Indian students came to England to study and one of them was Dr Dhani Prem. He became the city's first Asian councillor, representing Great Barr in 1946. By the 1960s numbers had increased, fuelled by the demand for labour. Many Sikhs came from the Punjab area to work in the industries in Birmingham and a lot of them settled in the Handsworth area.
- A Brief History of the Indian and South Asian Community
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