The Cockney Sikh – Suresh Singh

Why East London?

“My Dad came to Britain in 1949, and there was just something about it that pulled him in. He felt he had a calling to this area, to bring my Mum over in 1952 and to raise his family here. When Dad came it was very run down, and he loved that – he could hide, he could sleep in the doorways, he could feed himself with food that fell from the market stalls, and he discovered this network of other vagabond Sikhs around. It reminded him of the bazaars of India and it welcomed him in.”

How did you get the moniker ‘The Cockney Sikh’?

“It came about when I was at school; I developed it as a mechanism to fight racism. I saw that when my Bengali friends were coming over they faced this judgement for their broken English. And so I thought, “well stuff you, if you want us to be ‘like you’ then I’m going all in!” It has backfired on me at times, where I was accepted because of the accent but they’d victimise others who sounded different. That hurt me.”

What are your fondest childhood memories down the Lane?

“I remember my Mum taking us for walks down Petticoat Lane, holding my hand because it was so busy you could hardly move.

There was this one trader who’d sell potatoes, piling them high in a beautiful pyramid. Mum would always take one right from the middle and the whole thing would come tumbling down! He’d mutter under his breath, but he was never angry about it. Every week there was still a “Hello Mrs Kaur! How are you?”

Then there were the horse chestnuts where they’d always give us a little extra; the kosher butcher who would send me home with our dinner wrapped in newspaper; the Goulston Street swimming baths we’d walk to after school. Yes, it’s changed there now, but I still love it – waiting in for your Amazon order doesn’t compare to the whole experience, the hustle and bustle of it all.”