The Chillia are a community of hereditary taxi-drivers of Mumbai. How do they really know the city they live and work in? At our Online Talk #MumbaiTaximen, urban anthropologist Tarini Bedi introduces us to the life, work and expertise of the Chillia, and through the eyes of Chillia drivers, introduces us to the history of Mumbai’s kaali-peeli taxi trade. Moving through the city via taxi, we will hear the sounds, bumps, and smells of Mumbai’s roads to learn how drivers have historically developed an intimate sensory knowledge of driving in a city like Mumbai.

Please note: The event link will be shared a couple of hours before the talk

About the speaker?

Tarini Bedi is Associate Professor of sociocultural anthropology in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a Mumbaikar at heart. Her research and teaching interests lie at the intersection of urban and political anthropology, anthropology of infrastructure and mobilities, cultural geography, and gender studies. Her first book, “The Dashing Ladies of Shiv Sena: Political Matronage in Urbanizing India” (2016, SUNY Press) was based on her research with women of the Shiv Sena’s Mahila Aghadi across Maharashtra. Her second book “Mumbai Taximen: Autobiographies and Automobilities in India” is to be released in 2021 (University of Washington Press).