It’s not merely countries and territories that we draw a line through, but also all kinds of identities, genders and notions. This makes us feel complacent and encourages a false sense of security. We feel that we are safe and there is no need to challenge the normative structures of the society we have built around us. Darwin was in for a fight when he suggested that we descended from apes. Can you imagine the balls on this guy? To have enough gall to suggest that we come from those hairy things that run about in the jungle?
Well, we had about a 100 years to mull over and metabolise that fact. Now, another paradox hits us in the face and we, like our predecessors, are aping around it instead of just accepting it as it is and letting the matter rest.
India is celebrating a new identity amid the liberal infusion of western hullabaloo these days. It’s growing, learning and expressing the right to get offended at even the smaller things in life.
The grand old jury of the Indian Constitution comes up with article 377 IPC. There are people who support it enthusiastically because, frankly, when have this country or its people ever done unethical “backdoor” stuff? Before I get all pessimistic, though, thanks to common sense, it also brings together thousands of people to stand against it and call the article for what it- a medieval rule that needs to be thrown out the door.
Recently one of the most popular household magazines in Kerala – Vanitha – featured a transgender model on its July cover.
Deepthi, earlier known as Shinoj, created history, along with Vanitha. The cover story is about her transformation from a cocoon to a gorgeous butterfly.
Kerala is the first state in India to have introduced a transgender policy, which was aimed to end the social stigma towards the sexual minority group and ensure them non-discriminatory treatment.
How big an achievement is this?
When I ask Deepthi’s fellow transgender model Amy Choudhury, she was elated to say that “It’s good not only for the LGBTQ community but for everyone as it’s a victory of humanity. It proves that the society is changing and it’s goddamn time it did!”
A super successful model herself, Amy, earlier known as Avishek Chowdhury, had to face her own personal hell during here transition days.
It ranged from public ridicule to as far as her family saying that they are ashamed of her. But that didn’t stop her gait or that sparkle in her eyes. She fought back and here she is today! Making her family proud, she has made her mark on the fashion industry as well. She has blazed the ramp as a female model showstopper for the brand Caprese several times and now this diva is shooting for her debut Bengali movie Mondobasar Galpo.
If you have not decided to turn into a hermit and live your days sans the internet, then you must have got the glimpse of Naina in the recent times. Naina is the youngest transgender femme fatale to have come out in India. She is just 17. This is normally the age when we are confused and scared. Girls at this age are busy wondering if it is okay to wear a push-up bra and guys are just experiencing all those life altering moments while browsing sleazy sites. This is the time of our lives when we just start to understand ourselves mentally and physically and are slowly coming in terms with the world that is changing so rapidly for us in these adolescent phases.
But this girl had that courage and conviction to not only accept what she was but flaunt it in front of the whole world as she came out and announced it with élan in her school assembly and started a YouTube channel to make people understand what being a transgender was really about. She wanted people to understand that they are not aliens from some distant pink planet.
Manabi Bandopadhyay, is the principal of Krishnagar Women’s College, West Bengal, is also a doting mother, a dutiful daughter and the first ever transgender person in India to have completed Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). Was it easy for her? Of course not. She had to endure many hardships to reach this point. The journey ahead is not going to be a cakewalk either. People still have problems to see a “transgender” person being in charge of a college. In her own words, “People actually questioned me [about] why I chose the mainstream life.”
Professor Bandopadhyay, we are so proud of you. You are truly an inspiration.
When we look at these people, we see role models making this society a better place. They are not merely fighting to make the world a better place for hundreds of others like them, but also for us, leading by example. And all of them have only one message for the people, who are different and scared of that difference – ‘Be yourself, be honest to yourself, believe in your uniqueness and only then the world will believe in you’.
And to you, who are reading this article, this is the message without trying to be preachy.
Let’s not rule out the fact that as a nation we still have to learn, we still have to grow up a lot. Rather than behaving like unruly teenagers with little notion about the real world, we should stand in support for all that is different, all that is outside the normative, all that is peripheral and uncharted, and together, learn to celebrate them.
Judge less, be more.
Start doing it from today.
Featured image courtesy: thoughtcatalog.com
