I. Belongingness is never granted,
or even secure in its acquisition—
life teaches you that.
you don’t want to be a metro coach
at the busy Rajiv Chowk station
exploding with abundance
you cannot process.
you also don’t want to be lost
at the token counter,
or right before a map.
II. This language cannot really describe, ironically
what it feels like to be colored—
brown, yellow, black.
to say namaste, annyeonghaseyo, or habari
(and Allah forbid if you use salaam)
to an uncomprehending, white-washed room
to be judged for not knowing their language
but not expect the same in return:
the bloody history of English.
III. Some day you will find yourself
in an unfamiliar place, maybe even slightly lost
it will make you question how
the life you had known until now
could be so different, and yet.
but moving to a place that makes you
question your identity is the first step—
towards discovering,
or rediscovering
your roots.
Anukriti Yadav (she/her) is an undergraduate STEM student from Delhi NCR. She enjoys poetry, book-hoarding, all kinds of tea, Grant Snider comics, taking pictures of commonplace objects, and speed-walking while listening to hyphenated genres of rock and acoustic music. She ardently believes in mint chocolate and mental health rights and can be reached on both Instagram and Twitter. Her work is forthcoming in Ice Lolly Review and Pop The Cultural Pill.