Who are the Hjiras?

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Man elopes with Eunoch - headline from Times of India, Thurs 10 Jan 08
Dalit boy’s eyes slit for eloping with girl - Times of India

Both headlines showing caste and sexual differences are still strong.

I’m currently watching a documentary on TV about transsexuals in Iran, which reminds me of an incident in Mumbai....

On one of my first days in Mumbai, I caught a train downtown. In order to avoid the staring and offers of help and the inevitable ‘Are you married?’ line of questioning I chose to take the women’s carriage. Here Sari-clad women compared handbags and citrus coloured hair clips and offered each other sweets. All of which I was party to and all of which which I had seen before. What I hadn’t seen before however was the transvestite who defiantly stepped up on to the train. Okay, well I have seen a transvestite, most nights down Old Compton Stree, to be honest, but this lady was no Lola. Her sari was tattered and her make-up smeared. She smelt musty and had no glamour or delicacy about her. What surprised me however was neither her down at heel turn nor her unwashed hair. It was her open hand-bag, into which every single traveller on that train ostentatiously put a few rupees.

I’ve seen intense begging, children crawling with lice and with lepered limbs, barefoot and no money for food turned away and brushed aside, so why, I wondered, did this most shabby tranny manage to get alms off every single woman in the busting hustling train carriage?
I found out later why …

The Hijras, or 'eunuchs', in India are considered to be members of the third sex. It is not uncommon for ‘straight’ and married men to have relationships so a headline such as that of 10 Jan, would not cause quite as much of a stir in Mumbai as it would here. I’ve since found out that the Hjira communities work as families and are even more close knit. They have to be, as they face no small amount of discrimination, finding paid work only as dancers at birth or marriage ceremonies or as prostitutes.

But that still didn’t explain the overbearing generosity I saw on the train, with no sign of dancing or sexual advances. What I found out fits in with the superstition that still exists right throughout the sub-continent. Hjiras are believed to hold the power of curse and will use it the moment they are displeased. And so these women in the ladies' carriage empty their purses to avoid curses.

To make you all jealous, I’m attaching a few pics of Turtle Lounge, which I still miss along with the idyllic beach of Agonda.

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