NEW DELHI: The national capital, which is infamous for discrimination and crime against people from the North East, has once again made headlines for wrong reasons.
Officials at the Delhi Golf Club asked a Khasi woman to leave because she was “looking like a maid” in her Jainsem, a traditional dress.
The woman, who works as a governess and was at the lunch party with her employer Nivedita Barthakur Sondhi on Sunday at the invitation of a club member, has travelled in many foreign countries in her traditional dress.
However, 15-20 minutes into the lunch, the manager of the club accompanied by a lady came to Lyngdoh and asked her to leave the table and the room. In their words, “maids are not allowed”.
The club officials also allegedly hurled racial abuse at her.
“We were invited for lunch at the Delhi Golf Club. We were all seated and the lunch was almost to be served. Suddenly the club official came to me and asked me to leave the place,” Lyngdoh told IANS.
“I enquired about the reason. They told me that the dress (Jainsem) I was wearing was a maid’s uniform. They even said that I look like a dustbin,” said a visibly upset Lyngdoh who hails from Langtor village in Mairang civil sub-division.
Barthakur, an entrepreneur and advisor to the Assam government, in a first-hand account, said they were all invitees of P Thimmayya Goel, niece of General Thimmayya, one of the most famous army man of post-independence India, and a long-standing member of the Delhi Golf Club.
“She invited eight guests… amongst them was Tailin Lyngdoh, a proud Khasi from Meghalaya who’s travelled the world from London to UAE in her Jainsem, her traditional Khasi dress,” the account read.
“The reservation was for 9 people, which implied besides Mrs Goyal, 8 were her invited guests for the lunch,” it further read.
Barthakur also alleged that there was “a great deal of fuss” over her nine-year-old son’s “collarless shirt”.
The club officials said Lyngdoh looked like a maid, a ‘Nepali’ and her dress was different. When Barthakur pointed out that Lyngdoh was an invitee and said “she did not carry a badge that she was a domestic worker”, they refused to budge.
She said the two club officials who told Lyngdoh to leave were manager Ajit Pal and another employee, Sumita Thakur. “We explained to them about the dress… I am appalled that a citizen of India is judged by her dress and treated as a pariah,” she said.
Recollecting the humiliation, Barthakur wrote in her account, a copy of which is with The Shillong Times, “The room full of people dripping in pearls and diamonds, was looking at us, annoyed that we were disturbing their posh Sunday lunch. A good many would have been senior government officials who take an oath to protect the laws of the land and its citizens without fear or favour. We stepped out of the dining hall and this Ms Thakur and Mr Pal commented Pata nahin kahan kahan se ate hain! We left the club feeling stripped of our dignity, feeling vulnerable for being Northeasterners and looking different.”
Later, Lyngdoh told IANS about their “bitter experience”.
“I have travelled almost all over the world and several parts of India and eaten food in the best hotels and clubs. But no one has hurled abuses on me or commented on my dress. You cannot judge a person by what she wears and call someone a dustbin.”
The club president, Siddharth Shriram, said that he had no knowledge of the incident and had received no complaint. The Secretary, Rajiv Hora, did not take repeated calls from the news agency.
The Delhi Golf Club has a few government nominees in its managing committee.
Barthakur said they will take legal action against the club officials.
“I have started consulting my lawyer. I will also take it up with Kiren Rijiju (Minister of State for Home Affairs) and Conrad Sangma (Lok Sabha member from Meghalaya),” she said.
A former Delhi Golf Club President, who did not want to be identified said, “We do have a strict dress code. Just what happened in this case, I can’t say.”
Daniel Syiem, a leading designer from Meghalaya who has showcased ethnic apparel in global fashion hubs like New York, London and Rome, said, “The attire (Jainsem) comprises two pieces of fabrics which are either tied or pinned at the shoulders and is worn either below the knee or ankle length. The Jainsem is generally worn with a blouse and a petticoat underneath.”
Barthakur, in her account, has questioned the mainland’s attitude towards northeasterns. At the same time, she has pointed out the darker side of Elite Delhi where domestic workers have no right to dignity.
“In this day and age, seventy years after freedom, Indians think it is all right to ill-treat their domestic workers and mentally and physically abuse them. Delhi Golf Club and the Gymkhana have special areas, without any amenities where domestic workers can be corralled in so that their rich patrons can enjoy their food without being polluted by their employees,” she wrote. (With inputs from IANS)