GENRE: Features

Mumbai is rife with markers of its colonial past. One building emblematic of the British architecture, which we frequently come upon in South Bombay, is the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) building.  In 2021, this building was opened to the public for the first time in over a century, inviting the public to explore where the city is run from. We are guided through the building's architectural history and the foundation of the municipal corporation through a tour held every weekend by the heritage foundation Khaki Tours, in collaboration with the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC).  Built in 1893, the building was designed…

Chin-Chin is 46 years old and neurodivergent. To her and her family, a simple restaurant visit can be an arduous journey navigating through an inhospitable space. The lights are too bright, the chairs are hard-edged, and there is too much happening all the time. It’s almost as if she’s been dropped in the middle of a battlefield with all the bullets aimed at her. Chin-Chin’s story isn’t unique. Both children and adults who are neurodivergent, or to use the medical term in the ‘neurodivergent spectrum’, experience a world designed for the neuro-typical in a very different way. “When I take…

Mohammed Irshad, a garment worker in Dharavi, recalls being gripped by the fear of policemen lathi-charging him when he would step out in search of odd jobs during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. His garment unit was shut down. He wasn’t the only one, and many workers were suddenly faced with a crisis that appeared to have no solution ahead. Laxmi Kamble, co-ordinator with Acorn Foundation, which distributed food and ration kits during the lockdown, recalls the humiliation, desperation and embarrassment faced by workers, who were suddenly stuck with no tiffin service or hotels, no vessels to make food and no…

Nasreen and Minara (names changed) are both five months pregnant. The two women live in Bengaluru’s Kundalahalli slum colony with other migrant workers from West Bengal. Nasreen moved to the city around seven years ago. Minara is a recent arrival, having shifted with her husband shortly after their marriage eight months back. Now, Nasreen works as a cook for multiple houses in a residential complex. Nisara is a homemaker. The pandemic and its aftermath have seen little change for the better for pregnant mothers like Nasreen, expecting her third child and Minara, pregnant with her first. Nasreen told this writer…

Rani N, 48, a fruit vendor who sits opposite RT Nagar post office, is warding off flies from her precious guavas. At night she sits in a barely lit corner, shrouded further by a large red umbrella that protects her from rains. Rani had migrated from Tamil Nadu to Bengaluru over three decades ago as a 16-year-old newly-wed. She and her husband wanted to escape the droughts in Tamil Nadu and pay off their debts.  She has been selling fruits for the past five years. As a relatively new entrant to street vending, Rani has little access to certain areas…

The 6th report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), titled, 'IPCC 6th Assessment Report Working Group II (AR6)' was released globally on February 28th. Analysing environments of 195 member countries, the report has, this year, revealed that the global climate crisis is possibly much worse than we had thought. It states clearly that around 40% of the world's population is "highly vulnerable" to climate change. The IPCC report refers to Mumbai multiple times and says the city has new challenges ahead as it grapples with coastal degradation and temperature changes. Climate impact on the urban poor Mumbai is…

St. Francis Pakhady, a 200 year-old gaothan in Vile Parle, is no stranger to change. What began as a village of close-knit farmers on Salsette Island in British Bombay is now threatened by concrete development. Bullock carts would ply the Milan subway to get from east to west. Train tracks were laid along one side, leading to a level crossing. The opening of Vile Parle station, and its subsequent increase in lines, trimmed and pushed back the goathan. The upcoming sixth railway corridor between Mumbai Central and Borivali will eat 4.5 metres into Veer Ghanekar road, a stretch currently occupied…

Bengaluru has been steadily growing vertically with more and more highrise apartment complexes being constructed. Gardening enthusiasts lament the loss of green cover and space for growing their own flowers and vegetables. But green-thumbed residents of Ittina Anai apartment at Bellandur have shown that they can create their own paradise on their terrace. Apartment resident Aditya Rao, who is part of this terrace garden initiative, shares their story. Having grown up on a farm with lots of trees and abundant vegetable patches, apartment living was an adjustment. Whilst I craved to recreate our childhood experiences of living amongst greenery, space…

This is the second of a two part story on the Delhi government’s initiative in introducing Entrepreneurship Mindset Classes for school students of classes 11-12. You can read the first part here. Students are clearly smitten by what is expected of them in this programme seeking to encourage and nurture entrepreneurial mindset.  “People study, work hard and pass exams, yet very few get jobs, and fewer of them get decent jobs,” says Khushi, a student of the government-run School of Excellence in Kalkaji. “If this curriculum and the Business Blasters makes me a business woman, I will know where I…

This is the first of a two part story on the Delhi government’s initiative in introducing Entrepreneurship Mindset Classes for school students of classes 11-12 Between June and December, when a satellite TV channel first aired its promo for the Indian version of the popular American entrepreneur reality show Shark Tank,  scores of class 11 and 12 students from Delhi government schools had pitched to “sharks” business ideas they had executed and discussed investments needed to scale up their enterprises. Many came out with flying colours in interviews that were no less gruelling than those faced by candidates who made it…