1986: Resilience

Have you ever felt seen and yet completely invisible?

I remember lining up in that field of dust every morning, singing songs of faith during morning assembly. It was really just an ordinary moment in the lives of the students at St. Mary’s School, New Delhi. But for me, it was torture. Just a month prior, I had been a twelve-year-old, American girl living in Dayton, Ohio …

1998: Dignity

Have you ever felt as if everyone had control of your future, except you?

It was February in New Delhi. Spring had just begun and the weather was warm. I sat in my maternal grandparents’ living room, having taken my place perched on the edge of an awkwardly large love seat. Dressed in a traditional churidaar-kurta, my hair undulating to my waist, a bindi dotting my forehead and a diamond chip adorning my nose, I felt appropriately pretty …