In the past, the idea of visiting India as a British-born Indian woman brought up mixed emotions for me, and I found myself avoiding travelling there. This was the country of my parents’ birth, one which had significantly contributed to my life and identity, so why did I feel this way?
I didn’t feel safe travelling there as a woman, especially as a queer presenting woman, in a country that has legislation in place that criminalises homosexuality. I’d decided some years ago not to travel to countries that have these laws in place, even though they were laws put in place by the British.
However, I found myself drawn to Kerala in South India in a bid to escape the British winter – and to have a different kind of Christmas to the ones I’d shared with my partner and her family for the past 13 years, now that we had separated.