Transsexualism in India - Their Identity Crisis Calls for More Understanding

chillibreeze writer — Aravind Pulickel

As I lay on the top berth in a crowded compartment of the train, I thought I was safe the moment they struck. They were always audacious in their attacks, and I could see the mixture of panic, fear and shame writ large on the face of the victims.

Strong and able men cowered in corners of the compartment, put to shame by the spectacle before them. Those whose hands were still trying to function, fumbled with their wallets to get money out. I was hoping the perpetrators would ignore me. I was trying to be brave by not trying to hide. Bad idea.

One of them must have noticed me up there with my magazine. The next moment I found myself face-to-face with one of them; they found me engrossed, reading.

The fellow told me I would be blessed if I handed them some money. Somehow I didn’t yield to the fellow’s repeated demands. So as the fellow turned to jump back to the floor, I found to my horror that the fellow was actually interested in my magazine.

The fellow looked intently at a picture of a man and a woman holding each other and asked me in crude Hindi, “Who is that?”. The finger was pointed at the man in the picture and I said that it was a man. And then the finger turned towards the woman, the question was repeated and I said that it was a woman.

Then came the next question – “What are they doing ?”
“They are standing together”, I replied, ready for some vulgar statement about the picture. None came.

So I looked up into the fellow’s face. A heavily-powdered and expressionless face. Still no crude reaction to the picture. I could not understand. And then the eunuch was gone. So was the stifling air in the compartment, so was the shame and anxiety. My surprise didn’t leave me though.

Why didn’t the eunuch pass some lewd remark? That was ‘expected’. After all, anyone who has traveled on Indian railways can testify to the terror eunuchs can create. I have seen men being more scared of eunuchs than women. Hunky teenagers strutting along the compartment aisle are nowhere to be seen when the eunuchs arrive, clapping their hands. They are probably locking themselves up in toilets, stench notwithstanding. I am no hunky teenager, but I have locked myself up too.

In Indian folklore, the blessings of a eunuch is good news for couples seeking fertility; the curse of the eunuch spells doom to your fertility and progeny. So you better not displease a eunuch.

Their fate of belonging to neither sex, and the cultural reaction of superstitious fear, ridicule and ostracism has enabled eunuchs to force money out of people in trains, among other places. They wear gaudy make-up. They stand among travellers and clap their hands and shout for money, till you go red with shame and reach for your wallet.

While I see and hear countless cases where people have been harassed cruelly by eunuchs, I once heard of a case when some eunuch unwittingly tried to approach some soldiers in a train, who ridiculed and mocked that fellow instead. Don’t know why, now when I think of it, I feel like I am recollecting an account of assault on a girl, a sister maybe.

Maybe that eunuch I met didn’t pass a lewd comment because he/she was busy looking at the picture of a man and a woman and wondering, “Man, I wish I could hug a woman like that !”, or “Who hates me so much that I had to end up like this!” Maybe there were tears in those eyes which I could not see, tears that were not supposed to come out just because you are a eunuch.

In facing eunuchs, I find myself facing the fear of the unknown sex. I need courage to talk to them like I would talk to any other human being. Like Ambrose Redmoon says, courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.

What is important then? A cocoon of old thinking patterns? Presumptions?

A loving attitude could be vital in dealing with eunuchs. Maybe teenagers going through an identity crisis may relate better with these forsaken ones. Maybe instead of paying up when we face a eunuch next time, talking to them and sharing some food could help. Maybe educating and employing (BIG words!) a eunuch could help.

Maybe asking our children to talk to eunuchs politely could raise an understanding generation of males and females.

While I am writing articles about eunuchs, there are organisations who would rather labour for them. Maybe we should spare a thought and a penny. Maybe the unknown sex need not be feared. Maybe something is more important than fear.

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—About our writer:

Aravind says, "I am here because like I love writing. My interests include music, good photography, the Bible, reading and blogging. Sometimes, words can make a world of difference."

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