A place we call home

BY VICTORIA PREWER

The history, struggles and triumphs of Harrow's Asian community can now reach anyone anywhere in the world - thanks to the ongoing work if Wealdstone's Sangat Centre.
Since the launch of its website in June, www.asiansinharrow.org has received thousands of visitors. The site traces the story of Asians in Harrow from the very first arrivals right through to the thriving community which exisits today.
Kanti Nagda and Anila Shah, who run the Sancroft Road centre, have collected hundreds of newspaper articles, photographs and letters charting the history of the Asians community in Harrow and last year held an exhibition to mark the settlement of the Asian population in the borough.
"Since we started digging we've gathered so much information, we've now got details going back 100 years," says Mr Nagda.
"The first migrations to the borough started in 1968. This was followed by the second big influx in 1972 when thousands of Ugandan Asians were expelled from the country by Idi Amin.
"Its amazing to think that in 1960, the Asian community here was made up of just 42 people while today there is a population of more than 58,000."
As visitors to the website can discover, several maharajas have stayed in the borough, as well as the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawajharlal Nehru, who came to study in Harrow from 1905 and lived in the area for almost three years. The website also charts the rise of Asians in local politics, from the first Asian councillor, Zerbanoo Thammaiah, who took over the chain of office in 2000.
There are also categories on Asians in business and sport, as well information on immigration, race relations, education, religionand culture.
"As well as providing information locally, we also wanted to let other countries know we are here - that was the main criteria behind the website," says Mrs Shah.
"We want to make Asians in other parts of the world aware of the Asians community in Harrow, their contribution and their struggles.
"We want children of today to know what their families once went through."
Visitors to the guestbook on the website inculde one Leicester man who wrote to say how impressed he was with it. He wanted to know why Leicester, which has the biggest Asian community in the country, didn't provide something just as good.
"We've had so much feedback - having the site has really made a big difference," says Mr Nagda.
"We update it regularly with more information and current issues and it's also used to explain the work and history of the Sangat Centre itself."
The centre, which caters for and legally assists Harrow's Asian population, has proved to be a valuable resource within the borough. The Gujarati word Sangat means friendship. "When i cam here in 1972 I soon noticed that quite a lot of elderly Asians were just sitting outside on public benches in the cold, as they had nowhere else to meet," says Mr Nagda, who arrived in the borough after being banished from Uganda.
"With some-friends, we set up the Anglo-Indian Circle, a voluntary organisation designed to focus on the cultural and religious needs of the Asian community. Gradually we were able to start arranging cultural and religious events."
As the circle's numbers increased the group was able to buy a dilapidated Second World War centre, used by the Territorial Army, as a place for the Asian community to meet. In 1997 it established the Sangat Advice Centre, which has since handled thousands of cases and given advice in everything from welfare benefits and race equality to debt, immigration and housing. All the services are free.
The Sangat Advice Centre was also the first voluntary organisation in Harrow to receive the Community Legal Service Quality Mark for excellence in this field.
Successes have included the introduction of a meals on wheels service to cater for the Asian community, as well as the prevention of passport checks in 1979. Asian residents were once forced to show their passports just to receive basic services.
"One of the many problems especially for the elder residents in the Asian community, is the language barrier," says Mr Nagda.
Now the opening of the new £500,000 Sangat Centre building by the Earl and Countess of Wessex in June has begun a new chapter in the life of the centre, which is now able to provide an even better service in modern and spacious surroundings.
The new building was funded by the Millennium Commission and from £270,000 raised by Harrow's Asian community,
"There's so much more we want to do," says Mr Nagda, "but everything about running the Sangat Centre so far has been a joy. It's been wonderful to see people have their problems solved."

Anila Shah is pictured, right, with the Count and Countess of Wessex at the offical opening of the Sangat Centre in June. The centre caters for the 58,000 Asian people now living in Harrow.