It was a fantastic insight into the Indian people, life, history and culture. Study India Mumbai Participant 2010.

In summer 2010, participants from across the UK took part in Mumbai Study India programme. Study India was hosted in Mumbai by the HR College of Commerce & Economics and supported by a team of volunteer student ambassadors.

We were welcomed into the university in such a way that we felt less like spectators. It felt like it was the real India and not a tourist's India.  Study India Mumbai Participant 2010.

On arrival students were welcomed to HR College as part of the India Independence Day celebrations. The programme included lectures on the City of Mumbai, management, religion and film and media in India. A highlight was a talk from one of Mumbai’s Dabba-wallahs (tiffin-wallah). Classes in Bollywood dance and Dandiya Raas also took place.

Trips included a trip to the Nehru centre and City tour, taking in the Mahatma Gandhi Museum and the Public Laundry. Students were given opportunity to participate in festivals such as the Govinda Festival.

Indian NGOs hosted placements such as; Hellen Keller Institute for the Deaf and Deafblind, the Mumbai Mobile crèches – which run crèches for families living and working on building sites and medical placements at the Saifee Hospital.

The trip to the Deaf/Deaf Blind school in Vashi taught me how successfully NGOs can cater to different sectors of society, even on a tight budget and with minimal support. Study India Mumbai Participant 2010.

Mumbai, India’s financial capital, lies on the west coast of India and is home to a busy entertainment industry that includes the Bollywood film studios. It is one of the world’s most heavily populated cities with over 14 million inhabitants.

Photographs by: Ellie Savage, Jo Pickering, Deepali Kulkarni