A self-portrait processing ideas of cultural connection on ‘returning to the Motherland’. Born relatively privileged in the diaspora whilst further distanced from language and culture than those raised in the colonised country of origin, I reflect on projecting ‘otherness’ onto those sharing tangential legacies yet living distant experiences. Women wearing dupattas from various regions of India float away behind me, an urban-resilient rhesus monkey covers my mouth while it screams a translation of my frustrated disconnection and a culpable colonial legacy possesses strained pupils.