RAJ

Raj has owned the Balham News Kiosk at Balham Station for just over 10 years. I had to get the Tube the other day so went in to buy a face mask and we had a chat. Raj has lived in Britain since he was 6-months old. His parents came to the UK to escape the dictator Idi Amin who oppressed the Asian population of Uganda in the 70’s. Raj lives locally, he loves to play squash and snooker but obviously that’s off the cards at the moment until this pandemic ends. The piles of unsold newspapers stacked up in front of Raj show just how quiet business must be. He’s hoping that an antidote will be created soon as business is dire and he’s going to have to start paying rent again on the kiosk soon. The station has also created a one way system to reduce social contact which means that only people entering the station get to pass Raj’s kiosk. Despite the above, Raj was an easy-going guy with a positive attitude. ‘This will end’ he told me and added, ‘In the meantime I will just carry on as long as I can’.