May 11th, 2024 – Saturday 

Mornings in Bandra are delightfully slow. 

In university, I never eat breakfast. I barely have time to make myself a cup of tea before I’m rushing to my desk to work, or to a morning tutorial, or to a rehearsal. I enjoy the rush of it; the feeling of being busy and always having something more to do or achieve – but it’s nice to have a few days of something different. Here, when I wake up, I pad out to the living room. There’s usually music playing; the windows are always cracked open, and a fan whistles gently. Everyone else is already awake; even though it’s only 8 AM, I’m the latest to arise, and conversation is already in full swing. Sipping on a mug of filter coffee, I listen – this can go on for mere minutes, or for a few hours. 

Today, it’s the latter. We have a reservation booked at a nearby restaurant for lunch, but nothing planned until then. I will leave the nature of the conversation to the hours and the walls within which it was said, but I am finding these morning exchanges to be one of my favourite parts of the day. Having grown up not seeing much of my extended family, it’s wonderful to get to know Asok Uncle and Revathi Auntie better. Despite only having been here for a couple days, I feel close to them, and I greatly enjoy their company. I mentally plan to stay in touch with both of them after leaving Mumbai. 

The restaurant Revathi Auntie has chosen for lunch is only a fifteen-minute walk away, but the day is at its hottest, so we take an auto instead. My hands are curled around the leather of the seat with enough pressure to leave marks. Sitting in the back of an auto in Mumbai is equal parts exhilarating, terrifying, and awe-inspiring; the vehicle manages to get into spaces that should not be possible, leaving me both impressed and slightly scared for my life. I watch the stores fly by; this area of Bandra is known for street shops, and a few bright shirts catch my eye. Soon, however, we arrive at the restaurant, and are shown to our place at the table. 

Kari Apla, at first glance, looks almost Japanese in style - with floor-to-ceiling grated windows, shaded doors that slide open to reveal a small set of tables and bar seating, and an open kitchen in the back half of the establishment. As soon as we step in, I can smell the spice – a great promise of what’s to come. The food is a blend of Bombay, Chennai, and Kanyakumari cultures, started by a husband-wife duo. The menu is limited, but, as we discover over the next hour, each dish is perfectly crafted. From prawn curry to jackfruit cutlets to a mouth-watering tender coconut dessert, our table is never empty, and I am reminded of why food here is still a highlight of each day. 

After our meal, we are shown a new side of Bandra – more Catholic and colonial in character. I admit at this point my mind was wandering, as only two hours after this walk I was going to have my first official interview with a representative of an LGBTQ+ student group. As we passed through side roads and stopped at an underground coffee shop, I was thinking about the upcoming conversation – running my questions in my head. When we returned home, I jumped onto my computer and downloaded all the documents, before locking myself in the study to silently rehearse the interview layout. I’m determined for things to go perfectly – so I am shocked when, not even a minute into the actual call, my headphones fritz and I spend a frantic few seconds apologising to my interviewee as I switch the audio signals on Teams. 

Once we’re up and running, the conversation goes better than I could have hoped. My interviewee is extremely well-spoken and passionate about the work of their student group, and they offer a multifaceted, balanced perspective on the social attitude towards LGBTQ+ community both within their university and within the city of Mumbai as a whole. We discuss their own identity, their relationship with family and religion, and their experiences as a member of an LGBTQ+ student group. I hear things which are promising – their coming out experience with friends and other queer students – and things which are less so – stories of passive hatred from roommates and colleagues. I am taken aback most when I ask about their hopes for the future – they pause and sigh for a moment, before sharing that apart from increased education and equality, what they really want is the ability to be married to their partner. I leave the conversation thoroughly satisfied and inspired, and I hope I will speak to this person again in the future – perhaps when their hope for the future has become a reality. 

In the evening, I wander down Bandra again with Revathi Auntie and my appa, and I get a sense for the way the city thrums in the dark. There are still a million cars on the road; streetlights, neon signs, and the glare of phones bounce off the yellow sides of the taxis, casting a glow over everything. We stop at a few shops and then continue walking – until the night heat sets in and we’re forced back to the apartment, into the loving arms of a well-used fan. 

Although my work officially starts Monday the 13th, I’m glad I had my first interview today, and especially with such a brilliant interviewee. When I finally fall asleep, fighting jetlag and trying to block out the incessant crackle of the air conditioning, I’m thinking of them. I hope they achieve what they and so many others are working towards.