Saturday, September 4, 2010

She’s the man

‘As I re-emerged in my man’s garb, I felt that I was in disguise, and that I had left my real self behind’ In her autobiography, Revathi beautifully captures the essence of her life, struggle, aspirations and hopes, including intimate details of a life in a hijra household. She narrates her early years as a shy but hardworking boy who always felt as a girl and enjoyed doing the daily household chores. She poignantly captures some moments where she questions her identity and her existence — her teachers used to cane her for not being a boy enough, the PT teacher punished her for not playing boys’ games, parents and siblings constantly humiliating her for doing household work.

Revathi writes, “I didn’t know that I behaved like a girl, it felt natural for me to do so. I did not know how to be like a boy.” It was Revathi’s inner desire that made her flee from her house to join the hijras where she received respect and recognition for being who she was.

But life among hijras was not comfortable due to a strict hierarchical nature of the community. Revathi describes her days among hijras, how she was made to work endlessly for ‘senior’ hijras, how she was tossed among different hijra households, her nirvana and how she negotiated her way with her gurus, chelas and hijra fraternity to be where she is now — an activist fighting for the rights for her community.

Full report here Hindustan Times

No comments:

Post a Comment