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Best Australian Yarn: Jalindra by Jennifer Curtis

Jennifer CurtisBest Australian Yarn
Jalindra
Camera IconJalindra Credit: The West Australian

MUMBAI, INDIA

As I step off the train, the city of Mumbai slams into me. My senses are assaulted by smells, sounds, people — chaos. I’m hit by a wall of diesel and petrol fumes, by the odour of cow dung and then beedi cigarette smoke; sweet and heady. Afternoon rains have soaked the ground, and I’m walking through a thick, heavy steam bath of oil and smoke, of human sweat, of sweet and sour, all the while being pushed and propelled along the station’s platform.

On my back, I carry the weight of my father’s dreams, the weight of unopened books. The straps of my leather satchel cut deeply into my shoulders as I press forward in the crowd, holding myself to attention, trying not to let the skin of my brown hands touch the skin of another’s. The colours and sounds, people pushing and shouting, the cars and horns, even my ears feel pummelled by the loudness of everything. And all I want is clean air and space. Already.

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