Mumbai seems to be a city of the restless rich looking for new ways to amuse themselves, while pastoral India seems to be becoming ruthless, streaked with the blood of a twisted nationalism and oppression. Representation pic

My son, now 21, has seen very little of India, since we moved to Kenya in 2000 when he was just three. After six years there, we shifted to Thailand, where we still live. He, meanwhile, finished school in Bangkok and left for university in Montréal, Canada. The only Indian city he has seen, in short bursts and through squinted eyes, is Mumbai. His Hindi is scanty, and his Marathi and Tamil are non-existent.