Holly Thorpe Citizen Matters, Blogs

Farewell Bengaluru! This is Holly Thorpe signing off…

September 11, 2015 Holly Thorpe

Hello, dear reader, with whom I’ve shared so much. If you’re reading this, it means the time has come for me to leave. Perhaps, as you’re rubbing your weary eyes and preparing for bed, I’m

Humble pie: An American palate adjusts to food culture in India

August 24, 2015 Holly Thorpe

Recently I went on a food walk with Bengaluru’s Unhurried walk and tour company. The three-hour walk led me through the charming streets of Basavanagudi and into some fabulous eateries. At the handful of small

Potty training in Bengaluru

August 4, 2015 Holly Thorpe

Dear reader, who I may know well or not at all, you are going to get to know all sorts of strange things about me. Let’s be forward with each other, shall we? Today, for instance,

The dissonance in my gut: When ideas of skin colour and identity are challenged abroad

July 24, 2015 Holly Thorpe

In the United States, I’m never really forced to think about the colour of my skin. I suspect very few white, middle-class girls are, although I may be wrong there. This is a privilege, a

Charging foreigners more for tickets: A jab on a tourist’s face?

July 11, 2015 Holly Thorpe

I was standing in awe of a temple carved out of stone, the colour of a sunset in a place in North Karnataka, when my travelling companion approached me. She’d been speaking with the man

First week in a city that refuses to be ignored

July 2, 2015 Holly Thorpe

From the moment I stepped off the plane, it became impossible to forget that I was in Bengaluru; the city demanded my attention. The humidity that alighted on my skin and curled my hair, the