‘The Unbroken Coast’ by Nalini Jones: A Bandra novel about family, friendship, and shared history

What shapes people’s lives? Is it the range of choices they’re allowed to make, the families they’re born into, the social and economic environments they live in, or simply chance? Nalini Jones’s debut novel, The Unbroken Coast, explores the interplay of these forces with quiet intensity, unfolding a story as intimate as it is universal.

A different Bandra

The crucible for this exploration is a fictionalised version of Mumbai’s Bandra, a world away from the allegedly trendy clubs, cafes, and other venues that many know the suburb for today. Long before that, there were the Kolis, often referred to as the city’s first inhabitants. With the advent of the Portuguese, many from this fishing tribe converted to Catholicism, becoming a part of what came to be called the East Indian community. It is among their environs that The Unbroken Coast is largely set.

This exploration of Bandra and its inhabitants isn’t new territory for Jones. Her interlinked short story collection, What You Call Winter (2007), was also set in a version of the suburb and focused on its Catholic community. The Unbroken Coast revisits some of those characters, specifically the members of the Almeida family. Both books also share the same richly-imagined neighbourhood of houses, streets, schools, shops, festivals, and local associations, where the...

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