When we disembarked from our train this morning, we really had no idea that the day was going to turn out the way it has (and in a very nice way). After freshening up at the hotel and going to visit the nearby city museum, we found out by absolute chance that today was the end of Mumbai’s two week Gay Pride Festival and that it culminated today with a pride march. What are the chances of that? We’re only in Mumbai for two days, and one of them is the day of the pride march. It started at 3pm, so we just had time to jump in a cab and get near to the start point – arriving just in time to join the march. We spotted two women holding Great Britain heart placards – and we went to introduce ourselves. They’ve lived in Mumbai for two years now and they were the first women in Cambridge to officially register as co-parents of their child.

The pride march wasn’t huge – just a few thousand marchers, but the atmosphere was wonderful, diverse and inclusive. In a world where many dark things are happening to LGBTQ+ and other minority communities (right now in the USA of all places), it was wonderful to walk in solidarity with Mumbai’s Indian LGBTQ+ community. We met and talked to some wonderful people on the march, and at the end we even found the gay, feminist, animal loving vegans from the campaign group PETA – we certainly found our tribe in Mumbai!