ABSTRACT
Multiple identities of working women in India, functioning at various points of their lives — at the time of decision on choice of profession, migration, finding work, and at workplace — offer interesting points of research. Relocation of nurses from the state of Kerala to Delhi for professional purpose involves dealing with differences in language, food, and culture and even accessing the public space as a formal worker and an Indian citizen. Owing to difficulties of transport and of the time taken for the journey, migrating from Kerala to the urban centre of Delhi is not a simple process. Their movement is further complicated by the patriarchal social context of India where women are expected to travel with chaperones and companions. Nevertheless nurses from Kerala, who form the major category of single-women migrants, create strategies and form networks that act as social support at critical junctures as well as in passing through everyday lives in the new city.
