via - Humans of Pune

“People are scared of us, and I don’t know why. Maybe because we are different, but we don’t want to be shunned the way we are all the time. We may seem scary, but we are soft at heart, we don’t want to hurt or scare anyone.”
“How did you know you were a transgender?”
“In our community, most of the time we don’t get a chance to decide for ourselves. The moment we start showing some feminine behavior or ways, the guru or the head of the transgender community takes us under her… wing and then teaches us the ways of being what we are today. It was like I didn’t have a chance to choose what I wanted to do, this was my destiny.”
“Have you ever been in love?”
“Yes, I have a boyfriend, that too from outside our community. Usually on the streets people keep hitting on me and asking me for my number, but they just want to do time pass. So, when they give me their number or something, I smile, take it, and come home and tear it up. But I have one serious boyfriend and he’s a good person.”
“How do you react to peoples’ bad comments, if and when you get them?”
“People keep passing comments all the time. But how many people can you even get angry with? I just crack a joke or something and let it go. If I take all the comments seriously, I won’t be happy. But I’d still like to tell people that even though we are different from most of you, we are still humans. We, too, want to be loved and accepted just like anyone else in the world. So maybe you should think twice before insulting us.”
“What is your advice for youngsters struggling with this issue in our society?”
“Now things are much better than they were. I just want to tell them not to live life the way I’m living. We are called to dance in marriages and we roam around in the streets, so we do earn decent money, but these young people can do so much more with their life. They can study, get a job, live the life they want. I hope they have the courage to accept themselves for who they are, no matter what people say.”