Above is a shot of my old "stomping grounds," Mile End Road and Regents Park. When I first read about the East End of London, I heard it was a not-so-pretty but not-so-expensive place to live. I also read it had a high crime rate and the highest population of Bengali's and Pakistani's outside of the Indian Sub-continet.
At that point in my life, my ignorance told me that was "bad." I have never been more wrong in my life. My school was predominantly British-Bengali, and British-Pakistani students and I was definitely the minority. Which ended up being wonderful . . . I was introduced to TWO separate cultures for the price of one--English and Asian. I learned a lot about Islam and lost my prejudiced fears about Muslim people. PLUS, there is SO much great Indian food around the East End. The real stuff . . . Anyway, it feels good to know I can love people of all different backgrounds and faiths. It's really liberating!
