Remembering the city: translocality and the senses

This article explores how the postcolonial cities of Kolkata and London are remembered across space and time through the translocal memories of a religious minority, followers of the Hindu reform sect, known as the Brahmo Samaj. London Brahmos represent a miniscule translocal community, historically located in the urban culture of Kolkata and yet with a long tradition of travel and migration inside and outside India. Drawing on interviews with London Brahmos, who migrated to London from Kolkata from the 1950s onwards, the article focuses on the role of urban memory as a translocal and sensory practice, infused with enchantment. I start by considering how London and Kolkata are connected through translocal memories of mobility and dwelling. I then move on to contrast sensuous and sterile memories, which emplace translocal urban imaginaries of Kolkata and London and examine the limits of translocality to connect cities and lives through mapping a variety of situated urban sensescapes.