After taking off her silver armband embossed with the word "Allah" in Arabic, Ayesha Begum puts red-and-white conch bangles on her wrists and vermillion powder on her forehead - the signs of a traditional Hindu woman in eastern India.
Begum, a Muslim, changes her appearance every morning before she leaves her home, 50km east of Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal state, where she works as a housekeeper in a private hospital.
"Through the day in the hospital I maintain this Hindu appearance. Everyone there knows me as Hindu and calls me 'Lakshmi' - a popular Hindu moniker," Begum, in her early 30's, told Al Jazeera.
"When I did not succeed in getting a job, I followed the advice of some friends and posed as a Hindu. Soon I landed this job in a hospital."
Hospital officials asked her to get more female housekeepers from her village. "When I told them there were Muslim women who were looking for jobs, they said it would be better if I brought non-Muslim candidates," she said.
Begum's case is not unique. Many Muslims in India complain they face religious discrimination in the country's Hindu-dominated job market. Muslims who have secured jobs pretending to be Hindus are fiercely secretive about their place of work. Full story...
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Begum, a Muslim, changes her appearance every morning before she leaves her home, 50km east of Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal state, where she works as a housekeeper in a private hospital.
"Through the day in the hospital I maintain this Hindu appearance. Everyone there knows me as Hindu and calls me 'Lakshmi' - a popular Hindu moniker," Begum, in her early 30's, told Al Jazeera.
"When I did not succeed in getting a job, I followed the advice of some friends and posed as a Hindu. Soon I landed this job in a hospital."
Hospital officials asked her to get more female housekeepers from her village. "When I told them there were Muslim women who were looking for jobs, they said it would be better if I brought non-Muslim candidates," she said.
Begum's case is not unique. Many Muslims in India complain they face religious discrimination in the country's Hindu-dominated job market. Muslims who have secured jobs pretending to be Hindus are fiercely secretive about their place of work. Full story...
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