A Call for Decolonization: Breaking the Invisible Chains of Colonisation
A 60-minute session, held on Sunday 21 December 2025, about the colonial habits that outlived colonial rule. None of it is in the history books. It is in how we judge someone's English, which skin we praise, who gets the best table, what we wear to be taken seriously and whose approval makes a thing feel real. Which of these chains are still on, which have we grown to like, and which were never chains at all? Twelve independent cards. Open three or four.
The opening question
Which language do you feel most confident in, and which one do you feel most like yourself in?
Everyone in the room answers this in one line before any card is opened. Write the answers down; you will come back to them.
The cards
12 ways into the topic
Each card is independent. Your group votes on which to open, and four or five is plenty for an hour. Behind every card sit three prompts, one at a time, that only appear once it is opened on the board. Unopened cards keep for next time.
- 1
Judging People By Their English
Two people go for the same job. One speaks smooth English. The other stumbles, then explains brilliantly in Hindi.
- 2
Speaking English To Your Kids
Your parents spoke to you in their language. You answered in English. Now your child understands only English, and Nani's stories don't land any more.
- 3
Fair Skin And Family Comments
A baby is born and the first thing an aunty says is, “So fair!” Another tells you not to play in the sun or you'll get dark.
- 4
How We Treat White Foreigners
You walk into a hotel with your family. A white tourist walks in behind you. Suddenly the staff are smiling wider and hurrying past you to help them.
- 5
Calling Your Boss “Sir”
Your new manager says, “Just call me Ravi.” You try. It feels rude. So you slip back to “Sir”, and he stops correcting you.
- 6
Needing Western Approval
Your aunty has done yoga every morning for forty years. Nobody cared. Then a Hollywood star posts a yoga video, and suddenly it's cool in your office.
- 7
Foreign Brands And Degrees
A shopkeeper says, “This one is imported.” You pay double without really thinking. Your cousin's foreign degree gets mentioned at every wedding.
- 8
Eating With Your Hands
At home you eat dal-chawal with your fingers, and it tastes better that way. At a smart restaurant with colleagues, you reach for the spoon and fork.
- 9
Dress Codes And Indian Clothes
You turn up at a smart club in a crisp dhoti. The guard says you can't come in. Inside, everyone is sweating in trousers.
- 10
Renaming Cities And Streets
The city you grew up in has a new name. The signboards changed almost overnight. Your grandmother still says the old one and refuses to stop.
- 11
Stop Blaming The British
The government office loses your file again. Someone in the queue sighs that the British built the system this way. They left nearly eighty years ago.
- 12
What We Kept From The British
You drink chai with milk and sugar. You ride the train to see family. You switch into English halfway through a sentence.
The line to leave with
Of all the things you do to be taken seriously, which ones are actually yours, and which are you still doing for someone who left long ago?
More boards,more ways in.
Every discussion we have run has a board behind it. Browse them by topic.