…or just of wads of rupees?
This one is so easy I’m (almost) embarrassed to blog it, but our duty of chronicling the ongoing encounter of Western and South Asian cultures requires that we note this first-person piece by the Los Angeles Times‘ new India correspondent, Henry Chu:
On a recent afternoon, as I stood surrounded by a dozen workers hammering, sawing and drilling in my new apartment, they materialized out of nowhere, two sari-clad women with suspiciously mannish features.
The taller one had a broad face, a big nose and a purple sari — a color I like, but not on her. The other was thin, almost bird like, in every way: face, body, voice. Something about their manner, or their rather harsh, heavily made-up look, put me on guard.
I’ll let you read the piece, noting only that although it certainly possesses a sensationalist edge, the author does note the historical background of hijras and recent status victories, such as the third-sex option on government forms. (How many other countries offer that, I wonder?)
In any case, Henry was shaken up by the shake-down:
The short one continued to appeal to me directly, gazing at me meaningfully and sprinkling her Hindi with unmistakable English phrases like “a thousand rupees” (about $22). At one point she knelt down and touched my feet in a sign of obeisance or importunity. Then, growing frustrated by my stinginess, she drew up the hem of her sari, perhaps to warn me that she was ready to flash her mutilated parts, a common tactic among eunuchs to hurry horrified partygoers into forking over cash to get their uninvited guests to leave.
I won’t spoil the ending. But I will issue a politically-correct tsk, tsk, at Chu’s sign-off line:
When I see them through the peephole, I don’t answer the door.
Instead, I tiptoe back and huddle quiet as a mouse, praying that they’ll go away, while an annoying voice in my head snickers, “Who’s the eunuch now?” I don’t answer that either.
Stay long enough in India, brother Henry, and you’ll surely grow a saffron set of your own!
Flame away, people. It’s a rainy day where I am right now, and we could use the heat.
You know Siddhartha, I used to love that book. But now… it’s all gone.
Are you playing with my balls, leftist?
Stop twisting my
ballswords!Your parody is fascism.
Hail Mogambo!
not sure if someone posted this:
Toning it down : Young eunuchs seek new ways to win acceptance
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5047796.stm
Sid: Thanks for providing the entertainment on this slow hump day. Nothing like a post mentioning saffron balls and hijras in the same breath. Kudos!
SL: What happened to Mr. Saffron Afro?
Hehe, yet another firang fascinated by hijras. Please to note his airy reference to hijras in “antiquity” and mention of “guarding harems” – same old ahistorical orientalism.
Maybe I’m being over-sensitive, but what annoyed me about this article was that it seemed to be critical of India for “shunning” hijras. I’m sorry, but is there a single “out” transgendered mayor in the US, or in any other “developed” country for that matter? And do transgendered folks feel safe enough in America to be out in public without the fear of being targeted for a hate crime?
I’m not saying hijras are treated wonderfully in India, but they definitely don’t face the same degree of ostracization there than here.
Oh, you see what he’s done there folks?
I agree with Lavanya —
Chu says eunuchs are considered by many Indians to be a terrible curse… .. Just Indians??? Others, he says, feel like women trapped in a man’s body… this is true of transgendered people everywhere not just India.
I think this is yet another article sensationalizing India.
That said the Hijras are terribly annoying and their behavior is intimidation, to shake money out of people and basically a law-and-order problem.
If hijras do not want to be discriminated against they should not dress in that flamboyant manner and draw attention to their condition.
Just my 2cents.
HAHAHA. That was funny. Cuz that was a “just kidding,” right?
If [Indians/South Asians/Desis] do not want to be discriminated against they should not dress in [saris/hijab/bindis] and draw attention to their condition.
Where do you draw the line then?
I’m surprised the author of this piece wasn’t convinced to give the hijras some money, even if it wasn’t 1000 Rs. I’ve never been able to say ‘no.’ Besides that, nothing in this piece really surprised me. I wish H. Chu had delved into a discussion of how a hijra’s presence at a wedding or after the birth of a baby is also seen as a blessing. This is something I grew up with; only recently did I learn that there’s some reference to this in the Ramayana. Also, another fascinating book about hijras: Zia Jaffrey’s The Invisibles.
PS: When I say “nothing surprised me,” I mean that the author did not provide any fresh perspective or break any stereotypes. The tone in the piece – note the repeated use of adjectives with negative connotations such asharsh, flamboyant, vulgar, and gawdy – certainly did not lead the reader to any deeper understanding of the hijra community, nor did it support the author’s final epiphany or lend the piece any sense of empathy.
Interesting. Wary interesting.
I spent four days near Pondicherry last month in the company of hijras / aravanis (as third gender folks in Tamil Nadu prefer to be called) who were taking part in a festival / convention of sorts. Despite a few warnings against not going and despite my preconceived notions of this segment of subcontinental society, as soon as I was among them it all felt very normal. Like hanging around with a bunch of very happy aunties. Big boned aunties. Big boned with five o’clock shadow. (But that ain’t no thang. We all know a few biological women from The Hair Belt who would fall into that category…)
After dark it felt like Lord of the Flies Goes to the Red Light District. During daytime it was more like Curious George Goes to the Circus – complete with kiddie rides and ice cream and an endless assortment of plastic toys for sale. It brought whole new meaning to that phrase, “like night and day”. But minus a handful of us, it was a straight up local event, and that was what was most amazing. Despite the way that hijras and aravanis are treated on a day-to-day basis, here was this huge local festival featuring gender mutability at it’s epicenter and it was taking place in a tiny village within one of the more “conservative” states in India. I tried imagining such a thing ever happening in a place like Wyoming or Nebraska. Even in Massachusetts I’m sure the protestors would descend and attempt to storm the gates.
Suffice to say, despite the occasional harrowing moments, it was an edifying and unforgettable experience, perhaps the single most edifying and unforgettable one I’ve had in India. This was due, in no small part, to the good fortune I had of meeting an aravani named Priya Babu, an intellectual and activist who carried herself with the kind of native elegance reserved for the likes of Audrey Hepburn. Few biological women possess her kind of presence. I was completely stunned by Priya and only wish I could remember the name of her organization (if I find it, I’ll be sure to post).
In the meanwhile, I thought this was a a good article about another aravani who also defies stereotypes and who is working to undo them.
As for “dressing in a flamboyant manner” and “drawing attention to their condition”, Mala, that reminds me of folks who say, “I don’t mind if someone is gay as long as they don’t act like it.” Would their situation change if they dressed like nuns and kept their eyes cast downward? Somehow I doubt it.
Quite honestly, after ten months of witnessing too many women displaying the kind of demure silliness that seems to define womanhood in much of India, four days of taking in the sari clad boldness of hijras and aravanis came as a welcome relief. Would that a few more biological women in the subcontinent could step up the way the hijras do.
That’s my 2 paisa. Apologies for the long post.
k, i knew i’d smoke you out of your hole with this one. FANTASTIC stuff and i hope you are writing about it…
Kavita,
Loved your post and the insights it provided. Now I think a post like that makes a much better article than the more stereotyping Chu piece — you genuinely provide a new perspective that makes people rethink conventional responses to hijras…AND ‘normal’ women!
For those who have been criticising hijras for their flamboyant dress and behaviour: you have to see this as a strategy for empowerment and self-definition. Think about it: if you were ‘different’ from everyone else and treated badly because of it, isn’t it better NOT to curl up in a corner and let everyone ignore you, but instead to play up those very differences and USE the fear people have of you to get some power?
literary_safari writes: >>only recently did I learn that there’s some reference to this in the Ramayana
Actually, it’s the Mahabharata. Urvashi was infatuated with Arjuna, who rejects her advances. Furious, she curses him with impotence. Then later, she changes her curse and Arjuna lives the life of an enuch for a year instead.
M. Nam
I was in India a long time ago as a kid and remembered them dancing and singing and extorting money in train cabins etc. I was scared back then but my mom would always give them some money. In her pious Hindu mind, they were among the most repressed and misunderstood people and by getting their thanks, she felt blessed.
Their flamboyancy is probably their way of getting even with the rest of the ‘normal’ population. I found this article on BBC and how they are trying to change their lives by confirming to more socially acceptable norms.
In response to the comment made by Lavanya, echoed elsewhere…I’m not sure that I agree with you about Henry Chu being “critical” in regards to the treatment of eunuchs in India. Yes, I agree that there are societies in which they are treated far worse, but his piece is not a comparative article, and in absolute terms, hijira’s do face equality issues in India. I think the piece was rather light-hearted, and actually refreshing, especially out of a publication such as the LA Times.
also, in the Ramayana, from this piece in Counter Currents:
to taz, If I want that job at Target/McD/Walmart/Wall Street/ChildrenÂ’s Hospital I better dress in a way that will encourage an employer to hire me.
to Kavita : One of the reason that Hijras do not get jobs is because of the way they dress and act. There are plenty of gays who conform to work dress-codes and behavior so they can be successful in any job they do. And when they go looking for work they do not draw attention to their “gayness”—unless they are in the fashion or other industry where that may be an advantage.
The point I was trying to make is this : Hijras need to get jobs, then they will not have to beg/extort/threaten people for money. Then maybe society will give them the understanding they deserve.
Hey Ankit,
Henry Chu’s piece doesn’t exactly scream blatant criticism of India, but when I saw this heading on the LA Times website:
“Shunned by Indian society, many threaten to disrupt social events if not paid off.”
It sets the tone for the rest of the article, suggesting that Indians shunning hijras is a big problem and that hijras are acting out in retaliation.
Also this sentence furthers my point:
“The estimates are very approximate, because the hijras live in a secretive, shadowy world they’ve created for themselves away from the abuse and persecution of general society.”
Getting a transgendered person elected as a mayor is hardly living in a secretive and shadowy world!
As a kid growing up in India, I was always afraid of ‘Hijras’. Nobody used to openly talk about them and it was considered a tabbo to even mention the word “hijra”. They were a regular feature in any train journey. They used to be in groups of 5-6, moving from compartment to compartment and exhorting money from anyone and everyone. Most of the people were afraid to argue with them becuase of the vulgar language and gestures (that were a part of this black-mailing trick). Being a college student, we were a tough nut to crack. We often had ‘verbal encounters’ with the hijras becuase we refused to give them any money. We used to request our compartment mates to not offer them free money…but very few people listened. They were too afraid to “cross the line”.
I think you are making a lot of ignorant observations here. First of all please understand what Hijras are and why the exist within the context they do in the Indian subcontinent. They are simply people born with various levels of both genders. They exist in EVERY society. There was a fantastic program on NPR a year ago about average everyday folks who are eunuchs not to be confused with voluntary transgender.
Other societies simply deal with it because the eunuchs choose a gender and stick with it for life because privacy exists in the west. In the Indian societies the hijaras you see are babies of poor families that were abondoned and left to fend for themselves where unfortunately their sexuality becomes public knowledge and society forces them to live a chastised life.
They are human beings like you and I. They are no different. If given the opportunity they’d want to be as normal as anyone else, have children, a relationship, family. But society doesn’t allow them that. Do you think that the upper middle class doesn’t have any so called “hijaras” or eunuchs?? Of course they do. They just manage to conceal it. The most famous pop culture figure is Jaime Lee Curtis. She’s chromosomally a eunuch. But she has lived as a normal woman in society.
They are often abused, raped and forced to be part of a society that pegs them as hijras and couldn’t let them be Shantabai living next door. They are often and I know this from experience very loving people because they get no love or affection from anyone else except their own community. Before you make assumptions about why they are the way they are realize that they don’t necessarily have the option to be otherwise. At least the visible flamboyant hijras. The other invisible ones that do exist in society might be sitting in the next cubicle from you.
New Zealand has elected openly transgender Georgina Beyer as a member of parliament. She was a mayor prior to becoming an MP. Australia also has a transgender mayor. For more success stories, the website of Lynn Conway, a pioneering VLSI researcher and herself a transsexual, is a very good resource. You are right in that even in developed countries, transgender individuals are still targeted for hate crimes – Gwen Araujo’s murder being the most recent reminder. The prevalence of those crimes, like any other crime, depends on which socio-ecomonic section of the developed countries we are looking at.
However, the goal of LGBT movement, in general, and transgender organizations specifically is to accept and assimilate transgendered individuals into mainstream society, professions and other activities; not to force them into a marginal ghettoized existence. Yes, most of the developed countries are far far away from this ideal goal and US is probably behind Western Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. However, just because a structured fringe existence around a historical concept of “the third gender” offers Indian transgenders some social support and economic means to make a living by begging, coercing and prostituting does not mean that overall they are better off than their western counterparts and it is a desirable and acceptable solution. Tista’s story at Lynn’s site is a heartening exception and we need more such examples.
Has the oft-reported Jamie Lee Curtis hermaphrodite story/urban legend ever been confirmed?
Dipanjan beat me to mentioning our MP Georgina Beyer; she has now been an MP for many years. New Zealand also has an ‘out’ lesbian desi television news-reader/producer called Rebecca Singh!
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought that some people consider the presence of hijras auspicious? Aren’t they hired to attend certain ceremonies and things?
Gargi – You’re correct. HijraÂ’s presence is considered auspicious at weddings and childbirth. They confer blessings on people on such ocassions.
Word up ill one and thanks for posting this piece. Is drawing creatures out of holes a theme for this week?
Thanks for the encouragement. Likewise to Ms. Nottie. And I agree – the behavior that we perceive as annoying is their mode of survival.
Upon the recommendation of a friend who has done much work with hijras, I bought a book, Myself Mona Ahmed, a beautiful collection of photos, letters and first person musings by a hijra from Delhi who resides in a cemetary, adopts a daughter, loses her to other forces, goes through a serious depression, seeks solace in every mosque she comes across and concludes that “there’s peace in the jungle but I still cannot find it within myself”.
Sometimes she’s also unwittingly hilarious – “I was thinking about why it is that in the Western world the women wear so little clothing and the men too much clothing. Do you think it is because Western men do not have beautiful legs?”
If this topic interests you, it’s worth checking it out.
Think of that next time you eat a ladoo 😉
i never usually use these puerile 14-year-old-on-MSN lines but:
OMG! WTF! LOL! LMAO! ROFL! (rolling on the floor laughing)
yeah that really was almost too easy to post. almost. someone had to though.
all henry chu really needs to do now is a moving face to face confrontation with the hijras on oprah as she helps him conquer his fears to a standing ovation from middle aged white women in her audience. grow some balls henry and shake off your symbolic castration!
blog that and i will invent a new literary prize just phor you. love your posts on here 🙂
also proud kiwi moment! georgie is also a huge favourite on ‘dancing with the stars’, a ballroom dancing reality tv show on which she has lost a lot of weight, waltzes around with a hot latino boy and wears gowns so sparkly they give those hijras a run for their money. she is much loved and no-one cares that she was a he, except for crazy fundies who luckily have not gained political power here just yet.
i spent two months working with hijras in Bangalore. When it comes to their everyday lives, they’re like anybody else, some of them are amazing, some are irritating. But the way they struggle withh such pride and fearlessness is always humbling. It’s difficult to get a job when no one will hire you, so most beg or are sex workers now. And he sex worker movement is something to be admired — here in the US, I have never heard of sex workers rallying together and fighting for their rights (women-born-women and hijras both fight together in India).
Also, transsexual women have a much harder time passing than transsexual men, and the surgeries, electrolosis, etc. cost money. Class plays a big role in this, just like class plays a big role in who has access to healthcare (in India and in the US).
I’m a transsexual man living in the US. I’ve had many advantages being educated, coming from an upperclass family, etc. And even for me, it still been an incredibly hard journey. Jobs are difficult to get for me, so thank god I’m a write/artist not an investment banker! And the family stuff is brutal. But definately, there are more protections in this country. And I pass well. You’d walk by me and never know I was anything but a relatively good-looking guy on the shorter side.
(I recommend Kate Bornstein’s book, GENDER OUTLAW, for starters.)
Ok..jumping a little late into the discussion (as always).
1.The reference to Hijras in the Ramayan is not from Valmiki Ramayana. It is from one of the other local (Tamil?) variants, I think.
The other reference to Hijras in Mahabharat is Shikhandi, brother of pAnchAli/drAupadi. In his previous birth, (s)he was a princess spurned by Bhishma.So, she dies and takes birth as a Hijra, to kill Bhishma. (Bhishma has a boon that he won’t be killed by a man or a woman and so, it has to be a Hijra who can kill him).
Not just in Indian mythology, Hijras have played a major role in Persian history and during the Muslim rule in India. Most of the zananas (rough translation: harems) of the kings were protected by Hijras. The hijras were proficient in all fine arts, and used to regale the king’s household. They were also fiercely loyal and known for their skills in sword wielding, concocting potions and so on.They used to play an important role during the times of palace intrigue and military coups.
I always wondered why most Hijras in India speak Tamil. Tamil Nadu seems to be the Hijra head quarters of India for some reason.
5.Some thing that most people are not aware of: In cities like Bombay and Delhi, hijras maintain an excellent network of informants. They practically know within hours about a new born baby, a wedding that has been fixed, crimes and so on. So, it is believed that the Police in those cities (especially in Bombay) use the Hijra network as a source of information to prevent crime or at least detect criminals.
Cheers, Kumar
I think there is a little more nuance to it than this. 1) transgender and hijra are not the same (though i suppose you could group them under “gender noncomforming”)–in the same way that lgbt as a term has a specific cultural context as does MSM (men who have sex with men) 2) you can argue that hijras in india are not better off than gender nonconforming individuals in wealthier countries, but then are gender-conforming people in india better off than gender-conforming people in wealthier countries? Obviously not. The question, then, is whether it makes sense to compare at all without looking in greater detail at how people actually live their lives and the overall discrepancies in standard of living.
Deeno
Thanks for sharing. I’ve met only one person (who I knew) was transsexual… and not only was he the nicest guy, but his experiences had served to bring out a really compassionate side to him: he empathized deeply with suffering and lack-of-power and so was one of PETAs undercover guys who break into labs and rescue cats being used for experimental purposes — he adopted some of these, who had only one eye left because their heads were held in steel vices and eyelids taped open while chemicals were injected into the eyeballs to test for beauty products (the eyeball is later removed and dissected to see what damage the chemicals have done).
I was floored by this guys bravery and compassion in using his ‘differentness’ to help other living creatures.
Re my above post (and not trying to hijack this post) 🙁 Hence the importance of buying products NOT tested on animals…
Saurav, I was responding to a post which drew parallel between hijras in India and transgenders in “developed” world and questioned the existence of trangender mayors anywhere else in the world.
I agree with you that there is more nuance than what my post suggested. Hijras in India are a diverse group of naturally intersexed individuals, gender non-conforming individuals most of whom have undergone some surgery and gay men who crossdress to fit in but are otherwise gender normative. From what I have read, the second group seems to be the biggest subgroup, but I agree that currently there is a western societal and cultural context to the usage of the word transgender.
I don’t see how the difference in economic standard of living between India and the west is so crucial though. I have not done any survey, but I will contend that most hijras joined the cult/group because there was no other option open to them. If their family (and society in general) was more accepting of their gender non-conformance and sexual orientation, most of them would have preferred to grow up in the families they were born in and would have happily enjoyed the same standard of living that their gender normative siblings did. So when I compared their situation with their western counterparts, I was comparing the acceptance of family and inclusion into mainstream society, not necessarily the standard of living and that I think is a valid comparison.
It’s not that non-conforming trans and gay kids are never kicked out of their homes, particularly among minorities, and there isn’t a thriving drag/shemale/tranny-chaser ghetto sub-culture in western societies, but I’d say overall, across all socio-economic strata, the “developed” countries (and that includes Asian countries like Thailand) are currently more inclusive and accepting of non-conformance in gender and sexual orientation than India. Since that happened mostly because of lgbt movement and other cultural changes over the last few decades, it is not something that is impossible to change in India independent of a disparity in economic metrices. In that context, I would even argue if it leads to more of inclusion and less of “exotic-and-scary-others” treatment hijras get in India, stripping the western cultural context out of words like transgender and lgbt and including hijras in that framework is something positive.
There is a book on Hijras that discusses, among many dynamics, a very interesting and fascinating aspect of their lives: the role and interplay of Hinduism and Islam. From what I remember of the book, they take on Muslim names, even though their Hindu identities remain in tact. Actually, a number of Hindu deities are worshipped by Hijras of all religious backgrounds. The book’s name is With Respect to Sex: Negotiating Hijra Identity in South India by Gayatri Reddy.
Also, women who haven’t been able to concieve for whatever reason often pay a visit to a Hijra.
Mala:
Um… how exactly are you defining “gayness” here? I’m pretty sure of what kind of image you’re alluding to, but I’d like to point out that I know plenty of people who are heterosexual but because they apparently exude some kind of “gayness”, they are mistaken to be gay. Additionally, a workplace is not allowed to– at least legally– to discrimate against people who give off “gayness”.
Been working with Hijras for almost a year now, and the childhood fear went away in the first few days. What fascinates me is the immensly complicated social structures within hijra communities. I would like to blog about it all someday though the fact that hijras in general(atleast the nayaks I met) prefer to maintain a veil of secrecy over their customs makes me wonder if I should. 🙁
I have read some really silly stuff on hijras. Theres a novel called ‘Bombay Ice’ by a yank writer which was emminently forgettable. Funnily enough a TG activist once gave me a book called ‘The Third Gender’ authored by a supposedly famous tamil writer ‘Su. Samuthiram’ but I found it very demeaning to hijras, dripping pity, where they were called all sorts of things like ‘freaks of nature’, ‘unfortunate creatures’ etc.
and Mr. Saffron balls… read your comment, spirited writing that… heh heh
*Note to Deeno:
Aiy! I may be responding to this too late to reach you…
First of all, I’m so glad you posted, and I’m wondering whether this is a topic that YOU write about.
Second, are you familiar with a documentary called You Don’t Know Dick>?
Third, if one were filming a short piece for friends who are working with hijra / aravani communities, and if one were to be going to Bangalore at the end of June to interview hijras and aravanis who might have attended the annual Koovagam festivities in Tamil Nadu, might you have any recommendations on whom one should speak with? Since you’ve spent some time there with this particular community, your thoughts would be much, much appreciated!
for kavita,
it seems the hirjas/aravanis in bangalore are getting some air time — a few of them have been in documentaries, short films in the last couple of years. but the person to speak to is e. manohar at SANGAMA: http://www.sangamaonline.org/
he’s the founder/director of Sangama, the organisation i worked for two years ago. he’s very well connected and if he can’t help you, i’m sure he can put you in touch with someone who can. and from my recollection, the hijras i knew travelled from state to state if there was a special rally or event to go to, and sometimtes sangama helped them with the cost.
good luck to you! and no, i don’t know that movie, but i will try and check it out. take care.
Hi i am an indian man but am born in KENYA EAST AFRICA, and am 46 yrs old divorced man and i am SERIOUSLY LOOKING FOR A NICE hijra(hermophrodite) to have a SERIOUS RELATION AND EVEN MARRY they way they are as i LOVE TO have another nice C_CK to play with and have it in my mouth, tht is the main reason i DIVORCED my woman wife. Incase its possible can you please email me on my yahoo my e – mail addy is naresh_single at yahoo dot com
The Hijra are crued, rude and often vulgar to people. They use extortion to blackmail money from shop keepers, when they don’t get what they want they take off all their clothes and dance around naked, then police come and beat them because of public order. They come to weddings, clap their hands, demand money, saris and offer blessing, some of them do have blessing, mainly the chelas, but many of the older gurus do not. They should be given full rights imediately; passports, voting cards must be issued and the hijra fully intergrated into society, they must not be forgotten or ignored. Everyone can become beautiful and make a valueable contribution to society, given tollerance, a chance to blossom.
Human Rights Defence has now announced the results our essay competition. At third place Shoma A. Chatterji’s “Eunuchs of India – Deprived of Human Rights� is placed. Here is a snippet from its introduction…
“The International Human Rights Day comes and goes every year. Human Rights activists talk of torture of under trials in police custody. They talk about human beings being subjected to medical experimentation without their conscious knowledge. They discuss socially relevant subjects like violence against women, child abuse, trafficking or exploitation of child labour in TW countries. But the lot of the community of eunuchs is largely ignored even by their own. It is also true that at every stage of their existence, their rights to live and work like normal human beings are violated with impunity.”
If you like to read more, you will find it on our site: http://www.humanrightsdefence.org
Yours sincerely,
Tomas Eric Nordlander HumanRightsDefence