These women of Delhi’s Nizamuddin Basti embody change, independence, and empowerment

It is the first week of Ramzan; the otherwise bustling lanes of Nizamuddin Basti are rather quiet for a spring afternoon. Once primarily a slum cluster in the heart of the national capital, the Basti now accommodates buildings that appear taller than some monuments here. Beyond its dusty paths and dingy lanes, the Nizamuddin skyline has domes of monuments decked with fairy lights for the holy month, lush green trees in the backdrop.