Award-winning journalist Neha Dixit traces the story of one such faceless Indian woman, from the early 1990s to the present day. What emerges is a picture of a life lived under constant corrosive tension. Syeda X left Varanasifor Delhi with her young family in the aftermath of riots and communal violence in the early ’90s. In Delhi, she settled into the life of a poor migrant, juggling multiple jobs a day – from trimming the loose threads of jeans to trimming the stalks off raisins, and from shelling almonds to making tea strainers. Syeda has held over 50 different jobs in 30 years, earning paltry sums in the process. And if she ever took a day off, her job would be lost to another faceless migrant. Researched for close to a decade, in this book, we meet a varied and unforgettable cast of characters.