|
I took our Sahodari team girls Soundarya, Thenmozhi, Priyanka, Monal, Pallavi along with me to Kottayam, Kerala for transgender rights advocacy. Mahatma Gandhi university's School of Letters had invited us for this session.
Priyanka was almost missing the train and jumped in to the train only at the last moment. We thought we would miss her. 10 seconds late and she could have missed the train and the lifetime experience. Yes, it was a lifetime esperience for the whole team. In the train it was lots of fun, chatting, laughing, giggling and excitement. I couldn't sleep with the excitement. It was the first time I am taking the team and I was so happy that our girls had this opportunity. However, our trip was sponsored by no one. Fortunately, we had a friend by name Pappi who graciously offered to sponsor the tickets. It cost her more than Rs.8000 by train round trip. Thanks to Pappi.
We stayed at the Dalit center for social and Cultural Initiative, Puthanangadi. It was an awesome place on a small hilly side of Kottayam. Kottayam is a town with up and down roads, the place is somewhat mountaineous. We met LGBT community people Karishma and Kareena in Kerala who were instrumental in inviting us. Friends Justin and Shibu were with us to look into our needs and help us. Without them we would have faced so much difficulty. Our girls took the responsibility of cooking for the whole crew including all the friends there. Soundarya took the responsibility of video documenting the whole trip and events.
It was a two days trip. The first day morning after breaking we had an informal meeting and we discussed about the day's program. We also had discussions with the local transgender girls about their situation. An Female to male transgender person came and met me. He poured his heart out with his personal stories of oppression and the difficulty he faces to be himself - free and liberated. It was a sharing that moved me. I gave him words of hope and courage. He wanted to come with us to Chennai. But I said, that will not solve his problem. Creating support network for him is important. I will need to talk to some human rights activists, students and feminist groups to support and help him. There are more invisible people like him in Kerala who suffer so much.
In the afternoon, we took a Qualis and all of us 6 girls, along with Shibu, visited Mahatma Gandhi University School of letters and delivered a lecture to the students (boys and girls) and the faculties there. I spoke about transgenderism and the discrimination we face in the society for our gender identity. Our girls Thenmozhi and Priyanka spoke on their personal experiences. The students were listening deeply and were totally absorbed, We wanted them to interact with us and ask questions, but there only very few questions from them. May be because they were overwhelmed, had too many questions and didn't know what to ask. Soundarya was video documenting the whole session.After we finished the session, a few students came up and spoke to us. Writer Aparna Sivan presented me his first novel on transsexual theme. Since I do not know Malayalam, I need to find a friend who will read and translate it for me. Meeting Aparna was a great moment. We returned back to the Puthanangadi house and it was fun, dance and singing session. Jestin and Shibu sang many songs for us. Soundarya and I danced for 'Dolare'. We also started a fire camp but the rained destroyed our plan. Elizabeth, the feminist writer came and spoke to all of us. She is a good supporter of us. We had a good sharing session with her. That evening Mathrubhumi reporter and photographer came and interviewed me.
The next day. There was this vibrant person, a senior citizen, staying in the same house who called us all 'Mozhe.. Mozhe Kalki'. He was treating us like daughters. Such a lovely person he was. His presence around made us happy. He is a Malayali poet by name Atholi Raghavan. He sang poems for us and also wrote a special poem and presented it to me. I have given it to a friend for translation, as I don't know Malayalam.
We decided to go to Kumarakom, the famous lake which was near Kottayam. We decided to travel by public transport. We hired an auto (unfriendly driver) and got down at the bus station. We bought three copies of Mathrubhumi and ordered for tea in a shop there. We were browsing the paper and In 5 minutes, people in the bus stand were all staring at us. There were nearly 200 men simply staring at us in awe. There was confusion, amazement, hatred, fear and doubt in their eyes. First they thought we were biological women, and I think when they came to know who we are, their reaction was different. No one hurt us and someone was shouting some teasing words. I didn't know what it was. This was an embarassing moment for us. We all felt like Aliens. I love Kerala and its people. Their opinion towards LGBT people needs to change. It will happen slowly. May be in 10 years? Soundarya has captured the bus station incident fully in her video. The edited version will be a very interesting documentary.
In Kumarakom, we hired a boat and enjoyed the boat trip for an hours time. Our girls enjoyed it immensely. On the way back, I got a call from an organisation in Kottayam which works for HIV prevention among LGBT people. They wanted to meet us. They came as a group to meet us in Puthanangadi house. It was a useful meeting for us and for them too. We discussed the LGBT people's social problems in Kerala and Tamilnadu. They took pictures with us. They will invite us for Christmas celebrations in December. That evening, it was time for us to leave Kottayam and travel back home. Our Kerala friends Kareena and Karishma were so sad to let us go. We hugged them, said goodbye and left the center. In the train station, we met my friend and professor Tina who presented me a book and took pictures with us. Tina is a good friend of mine. It was lovely meeting her. Shibu was waiting for us in the station. The train arrived, we said goodbye to all and got into the first class AC compartments. Coming back was another story of fun and laughter. Our girls had a great experience and had learnt well. I am happy our trip was a great success.
|
