A stranger in my capital city: Being a Northeastern in Delhi

Spring is Atiya’s (name changed on request) favourite season. Back in Manipur, it arrives with pleasant weather, vibrant festivals, and fields bursting into colour. Since childhood, this time of the year for her has meant hours of gazing upon bright flowers and breathing in their fragrance. She hasn’t experienced that for two years now, ever since she moved to Delhi.

On March 8, she walked to one of Delhi’s gardens in Saket, with a transgender friend, hoping to find that spring comfort. What she encountered was just the opposite. She says a group of boys, between 13 and 16 years, began passing lewd remarks. “They began by calling me ‘chinki’ (a racial slur used on people with East Asian features), then went on to calling me a sex worker in Hindi,” says Atiya.