In New Delhi, surviving home

“I was beautiful when I was young. But now I have no time to look after myself,” Noor (name changed) says with a sigh, sitting on the steps of her rented home, enjoying a few brief moments of leisure.

Working since she was 22 years old, Noor has laboured at construction sites, worked in a factory, and then as a domestic worker before landing her current job as a cleaner in a private hospital in Delhi. “Ever since I arrived in Delhi, I have just been working,” she tells PARI.

At the hospital in Rohini Sector 15, Noor helps out with nursing and cleaning tasks. She cleans the patients’ rooms and fetches food and water when required. If the nurses need help with bandages and patient follow-up, Noor pitches in. “I work for around 12-13 hours a day. I earn 11,000 rupees a month. That is not enough to survive in a city like Delhi,” she says. “I have to pay for rent, water and electricity.” These expenses add up to around Rs. 9,600 a month, Noor says.

In 2004, Noor came to Delhi with her mousi (maternal aunt) and husband. All of 21 years old, she was pregnant with her first child. The family, from Sulindabad in Bihar came to the capital city in search of work and better earnings. Noor wanted a better life.

Between 1991 and 2001, Bihar ranked second-highest in terms of migrants to Delhi-NCT. The Periodic Labour Force Survey (2024) data shows that this has not changed. More than 11 lakh people migrated from Bihar to Delhi, the survey says, with employment being the main reason.

After arriving in Delhi, the Noor’s family settled in the jhuggis (makeshift tenements) of Kashmere Gate. The young, pregnant bride’s first job was as a labourer on construction sites; later she worked in a factory in Swaroop Nagar.

“I got married when I was very young, and I have never been happy,” she said. “Mujhe lagta hai abhi ke jamane me ladkiyon ko ladko ki jarurat nahin hain. Jab bahar jakar unhe hi kaam karna hai aur ghar chalana hai, toh woh aadmiyon se kya sirf maar khane ke liye shaadi kare [ I think women don’t need men these days. If we go out and do their work and also take care of the family, should we marry only to get beaten up?]” she asks.

In 2006, the Delhi government’s plans for road expansion and Yamuna river beautification plans forced families like hers to move out. Noor’s family first moved to Majnu ka Tila and then to Bhalswa Jahangir Pur in north-western Delhi, where she now lives in a single room with her four children. Her husband, who was abusive, no longer lives with them.

Noor is from the Muslim community, and she says it was hard for her to land a job as a domestic worker. “Many people said they don’t want to hire a Muslim woman,” she says. She finally got a job at the hospital through an acquaintance.

The money is not enough, but Noor says she tries her best to provide her children with whatever they need. On her days off, Noor sometimes watches a film on a smartphone (their TV stopped working a few months ago) with them and the sound of their laughter fills the 12 x 12 feet house. “These are some of the best moments in my life,” Noor says.

“My three daughters are my world. My whole life spins around them,” says Anju (name changed), who lives in the same locality as Noor. “I start my day cooking lunch for them and then send them off to school.” With her daughters away, Anju has some spare time on her hands. “I have a friend in this building, sometimes we gossip about our husbands and laugh at them!” she says. Anju met and fell in love with her husband when she was just 15 years old. “Woh alhad umar ka pyaar [the age of innocent love],” she calls it. When her parents found out, Anju was adamant about marrying him. “I said I would die if I marry someone else.”

After their wedding, Anju and her husband spent some happy days together, she says. And then, things began to change. “He became violent. I knew he was a drunkard. He would beat me up and sometime later, he would apologise, blaming the alcohol.”

The violence increased during the Covid-19 lockdown when he lost his job as a truck driver and also started using drugs. Anju says, “we live on rent and it has almost become impossible to pay the 2000 rupees. We haven’t paid the rent for two months. I thought of going out for work, but I can’t leave my daughters alone. I am scared that their father will hit them. He has already hit my youngest daughter once.” Her husband now drives an auto-rickshaw for which he has to pay a rent of Rs. 350 a day.

Data from the National Commission for Women shows that over 6,000 cases of domestic violence had been recorded in India in 2023-24 with Uttar Pradesh (15,762) and Delhi (2,387) reporting the highest number of complaints overall. The National Family Health Survey 5 (2019-2021) reports that 31.2 per cent of married women between the ages of 18–49 experience domestic abuse from their husbands.

Anju’s ailing father lives nearby and in addition to taking care of her own home, she has to look after him as well since her mother passed away. “I have a younger sister who runs the house, so I want to take care of my father and help her out,” she says.

“I can’t leave my husband,” Anju continues, “I am the one who chose him.” Her sister sometimes asks her to come back to their home. “‘Why are you still living with this demon?’ she asks me, but I don’t want to be a burden on my father. Meri yehi kismat hai, ise jhuthla to nahin sakti [This is my destiny, I can’t escape it].”