Image captured during fieldwork
Anonymous, "Certificate of Identity ", contributed by Tenzing Wangdak, Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography, Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography, last modified 13 December 2024, accessed 6 May 2025. https://worldpece.org/content/certificate-identity
Critical Commentary
Qatar flight QR 737 from Doha lands at San Francisco International Airport. Walking towards the Immigration Counter, I hold on to my Identity Certificate (I.C), its bright yellow cover screaming anomaly in contrast to the blue passport of India possessed by most of my fellow travelers.
“Yes! Yes! I am. I got separated from my husband who is in the other line for US citizens. I don’t know what to do.”
“ཨ་ལེ་ (a le)![1] Don’t worry. Do you have your I.C. and immigration documents?”
“I have them here, but I don’t know what they will ask me. I didn’t think I would be in a separate line from my husband.”
[1] ཨ་ལེ་ is a Tibetan colloquial term, which roughly translates to “ Ah Okay!”