By far, it’s what I think about, am confronted by and affected by the most in India. It’s complex, unpleasant and inextricably tied to not only my experience living here but how I am learning about myself. I don’t want to talk about it–which is exactly why I will. At the best of times, I’ll […]
It’s not that Delhi hasn’t been kind. There have been adventures: exhausting my family with local tours on rickshaws, folk music and wine in pretty gardens and college festivals. It’s not that there has been plenty to do and wonderful people to do it with. But I’ve taken a couple of knocks. Many weeks ago […]
In the seminars leading to our departures, my uni told its new batch of exchange students that there may come a time somewhere in the middle of your exchange programme when you hit a low point. You’re going to miss home; your new social relationships will seem flimsy and superficial; you’ll find no relief from […]
Change has come about, and most of its own accord. Jordy and I found ourselves being drawn away from our neighbourhood in Saket and towards areas around uni, where new friends are closer by and where private accommodation is half the price we were paying to share a room in a tiny guesthouse. With these […]
I am getting better at explaining why I am in India. It takes a high level of assuredness, and perhaps rehearsal, to be able to explain your best life decisions. And you should have a response ready in this country; the question can come when you’re waiting for trains or food, at the moment it’s […]
It’s been a month since I arrived in India for the second time, and two weeks since I started classes at Lady Shri Ram College. Settling into a routine has not progressed past a 7am wake up. I suppose that I am boycotting the process as much as possible; I want to be around people, […]
Sarahan, about seven hours and two buses away from Shimla, is a village in the foothills of the Kinnaur Valley. Many (mostly Indian) tourists make a stop here on their way to other Himachal towns of more celebrated attractions and scenery. The Bhimakali temple, at the centre of the tiny town, is quite famous but […]
I have no idea how this happens All of my maps have been overthrown Happenstance has changed my plans so many times My heart has been outgrown. –Wilco, You Are My Face With the debacle of FFRO behind us and the excitement of our first day of uni at Lady Shri Ram ahead of us […]
Usually a violent winds gets up a few days before the monsoon breaks. The sky darkens suddenly as clouds invade the earth, rolling on top of the other like cottonwool and skimming across the surface of the fields at extraordinary speed. Then other enormous and seemingly golden-edged clouds succeed them and in a few moments […]
Today had the promise of merely being an experience of administration horror at the FRRO (Foreign Registration) in Delhi. Because we are students staying longer than 180 days, we have to register with Immigration within 2 weeks of ur arrival in India. Cheeky snaps when the administration calamity was still funny And it certainly was […]
Monsoon Living 
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