Equity for the Urban Transgender in India: Perspectives from Laxmi Narayan Tripathi’s Me Laxmi Me Hijra

Abstract

There are very few writers and activists who work for the betterment of transgender. Laxmi Narayan Tripathi is such a writer and activist. In spite of her sufferings, she has established herself as a successful activist. She comes forward not only for herself but for the welfare of the transgender community. She is a leading LGBT rights advocate and activist whose autobiographical work Me hijra me laxmi is a distinctive feature in Indian writing in English literature. This work records the struggle of Laxmi as she raises her voice against injustice done to hizras. “Transgender individuals in India are commonly known as hijras. They are usually born males who assume neither male nor female identity. Being a transgender focuses on gender identity and not on sexual orientation. They are expected by the society only to perform rituals such as badhai. Otherwise they became one of the most neglected communities throughout India”(www. Hera- single p1).Today in India, many hijra (transgender) live in urban ghettos and many are confined to undignified begging or many are forced into sex trade for a living. A large number of transgender indulges in projecting themselves as a good omen to bless the bride and the groom, or a newly born baby and demand money in excess, if denied then prove vulgar. The author recounts her struggle to get an Indian passport issued and other such struggles against institutionalised discrimination. The role of the hijra is much discussed, accepted and visible in Indian culture and mythology. But, modern Indian society has relegated them to an extremely marginalised and miserable existence. The author questions the lack of equal opportunities and the right to human dignity which a transgender faces in urban India. They have been denied basic human rights, education, health care and respectable job opportunities. We are living in the period of modernity which gives opportunities to facilitate the social conditions in which subcultures emerge and nourishing. The post modern theorist, Zygmunt Bauman, contends that, “compared to the past, contemporary life is fluid people change jobs, religions, homes, nationalities, husband/ wives, life style and political ideas.”( Haenfler 29).