The Citizens' Archive of India

The Citizens' Archive of India The Citizens' Archive of India preserves the stories of those who have seen India grow from before 1

01/08/2026

This month, stopping by the NCPA on Friday, August 14th, for our Independence Day talk, Voices of Freedom, which brings history alive through personal memories and first-hand accounts of ordinary citizens who witnessed the making of modern India.

Drawing from CAI’s rich collection of oral histories, the talk explores experiences of the freedom movement, the impact of the Second World War, and the profound changes brought about by Indian Independence and Partition. Moving beyond textbook narratives, it reveals the hopes, challenges and everyday realities of a nation in transition.

Through recorded stories and reflections, audiences gain a deeper, more human understanding of India’s past. The session will be led by archive director Malvika Bhatia.

📅 Friday, 14th August, 6.30 PM
📍 The Little Theatre, NCPA
Entry Free. Register through the link in bio or BookMyShow.

We spent two wonderful Saturdays this month at the CSMVS conducting a workshop for students budding historians, and prof...
14/07/2026

We spent two wonderful Saturdays this month at the CSMVS conducting a workshop for students budding historians, and professional historians alike. Stories From Home was an oral history workshop conducted in conjunction with the exhibition Roots of a City, at the museum’s Mumbai Gallery.

On the first day, participants braved the rain to join us for a lecture on the processes an oral historian adopts to collect material from various sources. They were also taken on a guided walkthrough of the gallery by archive director Malvika Bhatia and Ruta Waghmare Baptista, who offered insight into the advantages of oral history methodologies in curating community histories for an exhibition.

On day two, participants brought in stories from their own families, using the tools they learned in session one. From magazines to books, from photographs to cherished personal items, each piece of material brought with it a story of a whole family. Some shared family trees. Some, the first photographs of their family. And some shared love stories straight out of a movie.

All our thanks to the CSMVS, and to our incredible participants. We’re looking forward to doing it again soon!

Hey, remember us? We know, we’ve been quiet for a little while. We dipped into our treasure trove for some fun advertise...
29/06/2026

Hey, remember us? We know, we’ve been quiet for a little while. We dipped into our treasure trove for some fun advertisements, published in the Indian State Railways Magazine, published in the winter of 1933. Swipe through to see our favourite: Imperial Airways marketing a quick plane ride: taking you from India to England in just 5 days!

03/06/2026

This month, The Chowpatty Cooking Club by Lubaina Bandukwala. Set in Bombay in 1942 during the Quit India Movement, the novel follows three friends—Sakina, Zenobia, and Mehul—who are determined to contribute to India’s freedom struggle. As protests, underground newspapers, and secret radio broadcasts sweep the city, the children find themselves drawn into a world of courage, coded messages, and difficult choices.
The Chowpatty Cooking Club is a lovely children’s book that shows the reader how ordinary people were involved in the freedom struggle - we especially love it because Lubaina used a couple of CAI interviews to set the scene!

As a team, we at CAI want to share the books, films, podcasts, blogs, as well as museums and archives that we love and engage with as historians. Feel free to send us any recommendations you have for us as well - while we work primarily in English, we welcome recs in other languages too!

For our closing talk, Director Malvika Bhatia will share stories from the Citizens’ Archive of peoplewho have witnessed ...
05/05/2026

For our closing talk, Director Malvika Bhatia will share stories from the Citizens’ Archive of people
who have witnessed the formative nation-building years of India. The stories go well beyond the political climate of the time. See how ordinary Indians’ stories come together to form the history of a nation.

📍Chemould Prescott Road
📅 May 17th, 2026

Register with .app through our link in bio.

Join Dr. Nirali Patel, in the historic Fort precinct to uncover how health, disease, and healing shaped everyday life in...
05/05/2026

Join Dr. Nirali Patel, in the historic Fort precinct to uncover how health, disease, and healing shaped everyday life in old Bombay. Sneak a peek behind the stone and mortar into dispensaries frozen in time, forgotten hospitals, and strange miracle-promising remedies, and learn about the stories that inspired our newest partner project, Shared Breath, which documents people’s experiences with tuberculosis.

From sweeping epidemics to the pioneers who shaped medicine, revisit stories of a city full of resilience, wit, and surprises.

📍New Excelsior Cinema - Chemould Prescott Road
📅May 17th, 2026

Book your spot now on .app through our link in bio.

A theatre artist and true-blue Mumbaikar, Meghana AT is the fourth generation of her family to live in the same home. Ea...
04/05/2026

A theatre artist and true-blue Mumbaikar, Meghana AT is the fourth generation of her family to live in the same home. Each room is filled with artifacts, design choices and furniture lovingly bought decades before she was born. She may never have met the people who put this home together over seventy years, but their ghosts, their stories, and their love endure.

📍Chemould Prescott Road
📅 May 16th, 2026

Register with .app through our link in bio.

Join journalist, author and oral historian Jane Borges on a heritage walk that begins with a gallery visit to In the Tel...
04/05/2026

Join journalist, author and oral historian Jane Borges on a heritage walk that begins with a gallery visit to In the Telling, the Citizens’ Archive of India’s newest exhibition at Chemould Prescott Road. Hear the stories that motivated her to start her project, with the Citizens’ Archive of India.

Afterwards, discover the lanes and neighbourhoods that inspired Borges’s debut novel Bombay Balchão with a book-themed walk. During the tour, you will visit the once predominantly Catholic neighbourhoods of Sonapur, Cavel and Dabul, and trace the eateries, old clubs, churches, homes and oral histories that form the crux of Borges’s narrative.

📍Chemould Prescott Road - Chira Bazaar
📅 May 16th, 4.30 PM

Book tickets on .app through our link in bio.

01/05/2026

We offer no prizes for anyone who guessed what this month. What we are offering is a great show with excellent programming,

Come spend your summer with us. Register for our special programmes with .app at the link in our bio.

📍 Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai
📅 May 14th-17th, 2026
Entry Free | Open to All

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