The Indian YMCA: a taste of India in London

  

There’s a place in London where you can you find chicken curry, rice and poppadoms for less than £5 … and it’s not in Brick Lane.

London’s best kept secret, The Indian YMCA, is tucked away at the corner of sleepy Fitzroy Square. With faded Georgian residences once owned by artists and statesmen, the peaceful surroundings feel a hundred miles from the seething West End. In fact, the hostel is a five minutes’ walk from Warren Street tube station and Soho is just a stone’s throw to the south.

From the outside, the building is not particularly prepossessing; fifties architecture was never the best, although this one has in fact gained listed status for the design in contrasting brick and stone. But its history is prestigious. The YMCA has been providing a safe haven for Indian students coming to London to study ever since 1920. It is the only one of its kind outside India and was the first mixed hostel in London. Its existence is a shining example of how international bonds of cultural understanding and friendship can be formed which have withstood the test of time.

The YMCA Indian Student Hostel (to give it its full name), was founded by the first Indian National General Secretary of the National Council of YMCAs in India, Mr K T Paul, who was an advocate of Indo-British understanding. Reflecting the YMCA’s overall mission to aid the spiritual, mental and physical welfare of young people “regardless of caste, colour, sex or race”, the non-profit YMCA ISH became an important cultural centre, initiating scholarship programmes and hosting political debates on Indian affairs. Sir Arthur Yapp, who sanctioned the use of the first premises of the YMCA ISH, described it as a “little bit of India in Britain” in which “England may be welcome and may learn.”

In the years leading up to Indian Independence, the hostel (then located in Gower Street), was visited by luminaries and leading figures including India's famous poet, RabindranathTagore, and Nethaji Subhas Chandra Bose and even Mahatma Gandhi in 1931.

When Tagore visited he spoke to the students, quoting from his moving poem Sunset of the Century written on the last day of the 19th century, an indictment of nationalism that is still relevant today:

Be not ashamed, My brothers, to stand
Before the Proud and powerful with
Your White Robes of Simpleness.
Let your Crown of Humility, Your Freedom,
Build God’s Throne daily upon the ample
Bareness of your poverty
And knowing what is Huge is not Great, and
Pride is not everlasting.

The IYMCA was bombed in the Second World War but with the help of the University of London and a grant from the War Damages Commission, a foundation stone was laid for the new premises in Fitzroy Square in 1953. The new building was described as a “monument to Indian Independence”. In the same year, the Indian YMCA was visited by the first Indian Prime Minister, Pandit Jawharlal Nehru who gave it his blessing. Since then it has hosted many political and royal visitors including HRH Prince Charles and HRH Princess Alexandra.

On the day of my own visit however, the company was less exalted. On entering the foyer, the only form of life seemed to be the two young men behind the reception desk whose heads were barely visible over the counter.  Two rather more visible marble heads mounted on plinths; those of the founder KT Paul and the former General Secretary, Dr SD Malaiperuman, formed a stern welcoming committee from behind their cordoned off shrine. Overall, there was a feeling of calm and wellbeing in the sunlit entrance that was welcoming and homely.

In the adjoining room, lunch time and dinner, served within a strict time scale, offered a very different scenario. The canteen-like restaurant suddenly fills up with people from all walks of life:  Indian students, business people, Fitzrovians, bewildered visitors, and seasoned regulars, eating, chatting, discussing politics, food, literature, or maybe just last night’s TV, mopping up hearty curries with home-made Indian bread under fluorescent lights.

Cooked fresh by local chefs, the daily menu offers the kind of authentic food found on the Indian subcontinent in roadside cafes, universities, coffee houses or public buildings. Warming meat curries are cooked on the bone with tasty fish curries, freshly rolled chappatis, homely daals, bhajis, and fresh fruit lassi drinks. You just queue up and select what you want before bagging a place at formica communal tables. As in restaurants in India, hands are washed before and after eating in the sinks behind screens. Dishes range from £1.50 to £3.50. Lunch is a la carte whilst the evening meal is a set price buffet.

Short term stays are available from £55 a night, or even £30 if you’re willing to share a dormitory. Long term stays can be arranged for Indian students and trainees who are looking for a taste of home in the UK. Visit the website www.indianymca.org to find out more.

Indian YMCA

41 Fitzroy Square, London, UK W1T 6AQ