‘Syeda’s story is also Delhi’s story’: Why Neha Dixit wrote about an ‘unknown’ working-class woman

The Many Lives of Syeda X: The Story of an Unknown Indian, is the nonfiction debut of Neha Dixit, an investigative journalist based in New Delhi. It juxtaposes the life of Syeda, a Muslim migrant worker, with transformative moments in Indian politics and history, through a tightly-knit, intricate narrative.

Following a thirty-year journey across cities and neighbourhoods in North India, Dixit depicts a community’s unending battle with the instability of urban poverty. She sketches a portrait of not only her titular figure but of contemporary India as we’ve come to know it. By tracing the times of Syeda and her family through events ranging from the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992 to the CAA-NRC protests of 2020, Dixit sheds light on the invisible labour and sectarian violence that has informed India of today.

In a conversation with Scroll, Dixit spoke about how her background as a journalist influenced her writing process and what her extensive interviews with migrant labourers in Delhi taught her. Excerpts from the conversation:

You’ve mentioned that The Many Lives of Syeda X has been nine years in the making. Can you trace its beginnings to a specific incident, moment, or memory? I’m curious to know where it all started.
I used to work for a television news...

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