It was while working in Mumbai in the '80s as a freelance journalist, critiquing theatre for various publications, that Rochelle Almeida first wondered why the mantle of Western drama and classical music was dominated by minorities such as Christians, Parsees and Muslim communities such as the Khojas. "I knew then that I would have wanted to enquire into this matter, and so when I became the Fulbright-Nehru Senior Research Fellow and got a year in Mumbai, I knew this was going to be the topic of my research. To the best of my knowledge, no scholarly attempt has been made to assess or critically analyse the manner in which their contribution affected Bombay's cultural life during the British Raj and in post-colonial times," says Almeida, who was flying back to New York, where she is Clinical Professor of Global Cultures at New York University, when we speak to her.

Her project aims to provide a century-long historical overview of English-language theatre and Western music—classical, jazz and pop—in the city of Bombay as impacted by its religious minorities. She hopes this proves to be a thorough account of the original and unique impact that 'minority' individuals, as members of a diverse community, have had upon the city in serving as first-rate organisers and performers.