Coming of Age : 1976 and the Road to Anti-Racism

First single men came, but when they had paid off their debts or whatever, after four or five
years, they thought of bringing their families in. So people started buying houses. Before 1962
there was no control on Commonwealth citizens, all they had to do was establish their identity.
Most who came just arrived with addresses of their relations, village folk or friends.
When I came, I brought only two addresses and one of the sons of my friends used to live in
Southall, so I came to Southall. But he had moved to Derby. But I told the people at the address
I had, ‘I came last night from India’, and they took me into their house! They did not know me at
all. Then they asked who I was, from which village. Next morning (this man had been on night
shift) three people at the factory who knew me from Punjab, who could not believe that I was
here, came to greet me. In two days, I found forty people who knew me here in Southall so I felt
at home. I was the third person who came from my village, but the first one in Southall. After
me, twenty-three followed to Southall and all came to me, to my premises here, at this address,
not even telling me beforehand – just came to the airport and had my address. When I saw a
taxi parked outside my house, I immediately thought, oh another one has come from my village.
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