About

The story of this blog

I am an Indian living in England — a former journalist, now an academic.

After a decade of journalism in New Delhi, Mumbai and New York, I moved to Bournemouth, a sunny town on the south coast of England, late in 2003. Indian in England began then, as an alien’s musings on the English way of life. Over the years, my interests have expanded, and so have — as old friends might notice — the top menu.

I developed a fascination with competitive ballroom, and went on to win (with Janine Desai) two major national titles in 2012 and 2013 and represent Britain. Footnotes are my posts from inside that world.

Culture contains my observations on people and places.

Epic Retold comprises posts about an experiment with Twitter, a retelling of the Mahabharata in tweets, which became one of the first attempts at Twitterfiction in the world.

And Hiking is about my latest passion. Never had I imagined I would fall in love with traversing long distances lugging a backpack, but somehow that has happened. Currently I am nearly halfway through the South West Coast Path, UK’s longest — and one of the world’s most scenic — trails.

For a living, I teach and research journalism at Bournemouth University. I also head Connect India, the university’s global outreach arm for engagement with South Asia.

You can see my academic profile here. Or check out my LinkedIn.