On Pavement Dwellers in Mumbai
Over 100 new migrants squeeze into Mumbai on a daily basis. Those counted come with official...
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Tag: Bronwyn McBride
A weekend in God’s Own Country
One of the first things I observe about any place is the ratio of city to jungle. Of man-made...
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Remembering Varanasi
"I’m also from Uttar Pradesh!"? I confess, in Hindi, to rickshaw drivers in...
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In the Heart of Dharavi, Muskan School
In a hard-to-find school in the Dharavi slum, I never expect to find toddlers doing arts and...
Read MoreDharavi, Slum?
Which place has 15 schools and several hospitals, imports plastics from all over the world for recycling, and is home to more than a million people in just over one square kilometer? That place is called Dharavi: a well-know...
Read MoreHaji Ali Masjid in the Mumbai Monsoon
Visiting Mumbai’s Haji Ali Masjid and Darga during the rainy season is nearly magic. The mosque was built in 1431 in the memory of Islamic merchant Sayyed Peer Haji Ali Shah Bukhari (who is buried within the mosque) and...
Read MoreLearning Love from Orphans
Whenever I come home from spending time in India, someone inevitably says "It is so good of you to give your time and your energy to help those those poor little orphan kids."? The people who say this are those who...
Read MoreThe Hindi-Speaking White Girl
‘Mai aur samajhti hoon, uske baad bolti hoon.’ I understand more than I speak. It’s a line I use when I’ve been present with Hindi speakers and listening to their conversation without adding to it, and...
Read MoreDogwalking in South Jakarta, Indonesia
I had truly landed in expatriate paradise when I was picked up in Jakarta by a driver in an AC van. The vehicle sailed past past gleaming malls and street food stalls, back to my friend’s gated community. There, we were...
Read MoreStaying Put, or Moving on
When did the point of travel become to visit as many places as possible, while keeping local interaction to a minimum? It’s become easy for travellers to see exotic locales while avoiding the culture of a place. There are...
Read MoreWhy India?
I’m in India now, on my fourth long stay. Choking on fumes and listening to car horns as I bounce in an auto-rickshaw on a pothole-studded road, I wonder why I keep coming back. It’s a question that I ask myself...
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