'They say I don't look Indian. But what is Indian?'

Growing up was so much fun. We would have picnics in the forests and cycle around the village until it was dark. But had I grown up in Delhi, I think I would have missed out on these. The city is not safe, certainly not for a young girl," said Karbak.

Culture barrier

However, what saddens Karbak the most is when people misunderstand her homeland and her people. "People think Northeast is unsafe and that we eat dog meat, our women are sexually promiscuous and everyone's a Christian. Nobody wants to find out the truth about us, they are happy with the fake image."

But Karbak doesn't blame people in Delhi alone. She feels the entire country is ignorant.

Karbak was even more indignant when a popular reality show on a television channel aired a clip where a contestant called a boy from the Northeast, 'chinky'. "I sent the television channel a letter of protest and lodged a complaint with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. I got a response from the channel but it wasn't an apology. It hurt that generalisation of such a matter could be tolerated and even reiterated as it was during the airing of the promos on national television," said Karbak.

In Delhi, Karbak is surrounded by people who aren't from Northeast India and is often confronted by their insensibilities.

"Not many people have been to the Northeastern states. It's sometimes more expensive to fly there than to a country in South East Asia. And even if there were easy and affordable options, people fear it is unsafe," said Karbak, adding that even if her friends might want to experiment with a new region, their parents would not allow them to. "The ignorance about our region and culture spans generations."

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