Prøve GULL - Gratis
Remembering the place called home
Mint Mumbai
|November 11, 2023
Refugee community youngsters on their dreams and aspirations in a new land and a cherished memory from 'home'

What home means to you?" N counters when I ask if she remembers home. As she moves her waist-long plait to the front and fixes the white-pink floral headscarf, a smile spreads across her face. "Tell me," she insists. "What home feels like?" N is 10. She has more questions than answers. Will she ever again see her birthplace, Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, which she left with her family five years ago? Is her three-storey school there still standing? Will the Taliban kill her friends? Her memories of home are largely of school and friends, though she understands why they had to leave; her family, like many other refugees, may resettle in the US, Canada or Australia.
As of 2023, the UN Refugee Agency's (UNHCR's) registration and refugee status determination figures showed 290,048 recorded refugees and asylum seekers in India from countries such as Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Tibet and Myanmar. Delhi's bustling Bhogal market presents a microcosm of this milieu, with a large number of refugee families making this neighbourhood their home for the time being.
"Home" is a subjective term. What might represent comfort and permanence to many of us, might seem temporary and a mere waiting zone for others. You might have built a whole new life away from your birthplace but the feeling of home comes from memories of the moments spent there, before it was engulfed by a war or a crisis. For others, home, as a concept, doesn't really exist.
That's what I learnt in the past three weeks while working on a short project as part of Lounge's Children's Day special issue. Last month, I set out to find out what the idea of home is for young adults from refugee communities. While travelling across Delhi and meeting over 15 children and young adults who trace their roots to countries like Afghanistan, Sudan, Palestine, Myanmar and Yemen, I gathered different answers.
Denne historien er fra November 11, 2023-utgaven av Mint Mumbai.
Abonner på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av kuraterte premiumhistorier og over 9000 magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
FLERE HISTORIER FRA Mint Mumbai

Mint Mumbai
Fourth-gen heir’s bold bioplastics bet over sugar
As Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd (BCML), a 50-year-old sugar producer in Uttar Pradesh, builds its first bioplastic plant, the company’s fourth-generation promoter already has ideas on how to further diversify beyond its sugar and ethanol business.
3 mins
October 04, 2025
Mint Mumbai
FM, RBI guv see India as global anchor amid flux
Local consumption, strong fundamentals position India as stabilizing global force
3 mins
October 04, 2025

Mint Mumbai
How the Trump administration learned to love foreign aid
Nobody expected President Donald Trump to save a country from financial crisis. Yet on October 14th he will meet Javier Milei, Argentina's president and an ideological ally, to discuss the details of a rescue package.
4 mins
October 04, 2025
Mint Mumbai
Margin trades soar amid weak returns
Retail investors borrowing money from brokers to buy shares have been doubling down on some of India's worst-performing blue chips, in the hope that these stocks will bounce back despite steep declines over the past year.
2 mins
October 04, 2025

Mint Mumbai
Lawyers keep close eye on first class action lawsuit
Law firms are closely watching the case of minority shareholders of Jindal Poly Films against promoters Shyam Sunder Jindal and Subhadra Jindal over an alleged “siphoning of assets” of more than ₹2,500 crore—the first corporate class action suit in India under a provision of the Companies Act that has never been used before.
2 mins
October 04, 2025

Mint Mumbai
India faces WTO scrutiny over import curbs, quality control
India has come under fresh scrutiny at the World Trade Organization (WTO) over its import restrictions and quality control orders, with several members questioning if New Delhi's measures related to pulses, tyres and air conditioners constituted trade barriers.
2 mins
October 04, 2025
Mint Mumbai
Kuku FM looks to raise up to $80 mn
Audio streaming platform Kuku FM has signed a term sheet to raise about $70-80 million in new funding, with South Korean-based video game publisher Krafton leading the round alongside existing investors, three people familiar with the matters said.
1 min
October 04, 2025
Mint Mumbai
Draft gaming rules trigger pushback from stakeholders
India’s beleaguered online real-money gaming industry stakeholders have questioned what they call ambiguities in the draft rules of the law that ban any game involving financial winnings.
1 mins
October 04, 2025
Mint Mumbai
Delhi, TN, Maha lead e-bus sales surge in H1
Govt incentives, charging infrastructure also fuel e-bus demand in Odisha
2 mins
October 04, 2025
Mint Mumbai
‘25% tests positive for H3N2’
Is flu rampant at your home and neighbourhood? You are not alone. India is witnessing a surge in influenza cases this year with data from hospitals across the country showing that one in four people sampled have tested positive for the virus.
1 min
October 04, 2025
Translate
Change font size