To celebrate last month’s Glasgow Mela, we partnered with Glasgow Life and Creatives of Colour to platform three South Asian Scottish writers. Each writer delivered a workshop at the Mela and created a response piece based on their experiences.
We’re publishing those responses on our guest blog, starting with this poem by Roshni Gallagher!
This piece weaves together poetic lines written by audience members at the Mela into an original piece of writing, alongside Roshni’s own contributions, to create a polyvocal-collaborative poem. Roshni therefore considers the attendees of the Glasgow Mela to be the poem’s authors and herself as its editor.
15 minutes from my house,
and 5,800 miles from my home.
The rhythmic drums mix
with the percussion of the rain –
the blessing of rain.
Mud squelches under dancing feet.
Men in turbans, kanzus, kilts,
wellies and raincoats.
Smiles, laughter, and fun
as far as the eye can see.
Lively chatter in many tongues –
in harmony with the warbling voice
of the singer on stage as she plays
electric guitar in her sari.
Showing diasporic descendants
that they, too, can be here,
that each stranger can feel like family;
brothers, sisters, aunties.
Storytelling passing down memories.
And that home is anywhere where love is.
Where I know you,
as you know me.
I dream that every day
could be a street party just like this.
With fairground rides, hot churros,
pakora and chai.
Spirals of orange Jalebi,
bright as a sparkler in a girl’s hand.
A boy spinning the wheel to win
a prize, happy as a capybara.
The Mela is Glasgow.
I come here every year
to see Kelvingrove transform
into a festival of culture.
Like a wedding
celebrating the unity
of people from all over.
A piece of South Asia in Scotland –
here and there at the same time,
just as I have always been.
Roshni Gallagher is a poet from Leeds living in Edinburgh. Her debut poetry collection Even the Trees is forthcoming with Bloodaxe books in September 2026 and is shortlisted for the Forward Jerwood Prize for Best First Collection 2026.
Instagram: @roshnigallagher