From A Week in the Life of a SOAS student:
9-10 : Grammar 10-11 : Practical
12.30 or thereabouts : I offer my custom to the great SOAS institution/legends who are the Hare Krishna guys. They come every day with a wagon of free vegetarian curry [but seriously, give them a donation, you skinflints] which is really really top quality stuff. They also boast the latest in trouser-related sartorial elegance ; you’ll know what I mean when you see them. Also, if you take the trouble to learn their names, they’ll give you massive portions, more than you can handle.
I realized it must be free after I took the photo and remembered Steve Jobs saying he used to go to Hare Krishna once a week for a free meal.
When I was thoroughly broke and at SOAS, I ate several times at the temple near Soho Square using the free tickets they used to hand out in the Underground. But you had to sit through a seemingly interminable service with a dodgy harmonium player to get your food, and there were rumours that junkies came and nicked all the shoes stacked at the entrance, and that would have finished me off.
Is that where they are, Soho Square? There is a video online somewhere showing one of them cycling their cart towards SOAS.
I heard Hare Krishna proceeding down Oxford Street last year – didn’t realize they were still there. It took me right back to London in the 1960s.
I think they used to be in the street connecting SS with Oxford Street. If the deal had been better I might have followed their movements with more interest.