The 'North-East' Map of Delhi

Migration from the north-east frontier to Indian cities has increased rapidly in the last decade. Limited livelihood prospects, changing social aspirations and sporadic armed conflicts push migrants out of the region. Experiences of racism, violence and discrimination are crucial in shaping their lives. But this paper challenges the notion that north-easterners are solely "victims of the city". Instead it analyses the ways in which they create a sense of place through neighbourhoods, food, faith, and protest. This "north-east map of Delhi" allows the migrants to survive the city and to construct a cosmopolitan identity at odds with the ways they are stereotyped in the Indian mainstream.