What is your religion and what is your caste?
I am a Hindu and, um, let's say I'm a general candidate, not a reserved candidate.
Are you married and do you have children?
No, I'm not married and I don't have children.
Where are you from and how long have you been in Delhi?
I am from Burdwan, which is a town 75 kilometers from Kolkata and I have come to Delhi recently. It's been just one month to be accurate.
Whom do you live with in Delhi?
I live with my cousin.
Why did you come here?
I heard that the skills that I have and the education that I got is not giving me enough opportunities to explore in the city where I was at, which is Hyderabad, south India. And I really didn't like the very conservative atmosphere there. It was kind of crippling. And also I thought if I want to do journalism, then Delhi is obviously the place to do it, so I should definitely come over here.
Did you have any friends or family here?
Yes, I have my cousin living here that's why I moved in.
What kind of work do you do?
Um, previously I used to work as a content writer and I was also a social media manager. So I have pretty good knowledge about both of these things. And, definitely, in Delhi I would like to do journalism.
How did you start this kind of work?
Right after my master's, we had different companies coming over to our university. And they did job interviews and everything so we applied in places where we were wanted and so I got a job at a pretty good company and I started working with them immediately after I passed out [graduated].
How much is your [expected] salary? Is it enough to cover your needs?
I expect a lot more here because back then in Hyderabad I used to get in hand Rs. 50,000. And at least here, it should be more, which I'm finding a little bit difficult because here, they are like “You are very young and you don't have enough experience.” So they are a little hesitant to offer that amount of money. That is why I'm still dodging from one place to another because I'm like, I'm still not very sure where I would like to land up with a permanent job because of this money factor only.
Are you able to send remittances back home?
They do not require it, so I don't.
Have you done this kind of work before?
Yeah.
What other kinds of jobs have you had?
Nothing other than that. Yeah, this is the only job that I have done. These two jobs.
What is your ideal job?
That's a good question. It should have flexibility, it should allow people to, you know, let people speak, you know probably there is somebody who maybe they are sitting in one department but they have a lot of ideas that could be implemented in the business, especially for start-ups. So, I think this collection of ideas from different employees is very important and I would love to work somewhere where they are open to take advice from people and also of course not be sexist and which is a very difficult thing again because at my previous job I faced lots of nonsense. I mean like sexist experiences and really bad experiences. So yeah, I do not want that environment. I want a very professional environment where people do not really mind what you do in your personal life.
What do you think of the lifestyle in Delhi?
The lifestyle in Delhi is great, I would say. But, um, again it’s not very safe, that's the major concern of mine, being a woman. The rest is fine.
Is it different in your town?
Yeah, very different. We didn't have to constantly keep in touch with somebody or the other that I am going here or, you know, something might happen to me. But in Delhi we have to be very careful, even about going to some stranger's house. So, I would obviously prefer meeting someone, let's say a stranger, outside my house, and know that person better before inviting them over.
Do you experience any discrimination in Delhi?
In Delhi, no, no.
Will you one day go back to your hometown?
Yeah, but I wouldn't settle there.
Why not?
Because I like the cities more. And we have lots of opportunities as in more exposure and you see many types of people and many varieties of people, with lots of ideas, different backgrounds, different cultures and I like that.
In your opinion, why do so many people come to Delhi?
There are so many jobs, not only say jobs but this is a very multicultural place, where people from different parts of the world come, not just the country, but different parts of the world come here and definitely because there are opportunities for people. I think most people come here because there is so much here that is not available in other cities.