London’s India Club, a rest stop for Indians in the United Kingdom during the independence movement, is set to close down permanently on September 17 after decades of operations.
The restaurant served Indian food items and also functioned as a lounging club where those associated with India in the UK would often meet. However, it has been facing the prospect of having to shut shop for a while now because of rent hikes. Here’s why.
Running Since 1997
According to Reuters, Parsi-origin Yadgar Marker has been running the establishment with his wife Freny and daughter Phiroza since 1997 as the director of Goldsand Hotels Limited.
They launched a “Save India Club” public appeal and won an initial battle to prevent the building from partial demolition in 2018 when they were served a notice by the landlords to make way for a more modernised hotel.
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Rents Hiked
However, after the Coronavirus-induced lockdowns in the UK hit many restaurants’ businesses and the rents were hiked exponentially amid a cost-of-living crisis, running the India Club became unsustainable for its owners.
Manager Phiroza Marker told Reuters the India Club had experienced its busiest days this week and that she was looking for an alternative space nearby for the restaurant, “whose formica tables and mustard yellow walls give it the atmosphere of a colonial-era Indian coffee house.”
Why Was It Set Up?
It was set up in the 1950s as a place for early Indian immigrants to meet and connect. Many patrons say they are saddened by the news as the closure of the Club will lead to the city losing a part of its history.
Located on the first floor of the Hotel Strand Continental, the India Club was started by the members of the India League – a Britain-based organisation that campaigned for India’s independence in the 1900s.
India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru is said to have been among the Club’s founding members. The Markers bought the lease to the property in the 1990s. Reports say that India’s freedom activists initially used the Club as a meeting space, but later it became a place for people from the South Asian community to forge friendships over shared meals and events.
Image Credits: Google Images
Feature image designed by Saudamini Seth
Sources: The Wire, Indian Express, New Indian Express
Find the blogger: Palak Dogra
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