Tale of a Reviled Effeminate

"Why can't I be addressed to as 'She', when I like being addressed so?"

"The society, as I said, has no right to meddle in setting up standards for me! Its just now that I am entitled right under Article 377, but before that, was I expected to stay celibate? I am lampooned for my queer gestures, my way of living and my interests. Why is that I am having an unrequited love for you all?! Am I not entitled to be loved and respected the same way?! "

                                                                                                     - she lamented


Her family and comrades made her redundant, a long back, when she wasn't even aware of the outside world...
She walked, as new ways unfurled, made up her mind for menial jobs, and sated herself with scant clothes and food..
"I was vilified and traduced in the workplace.....the reverberations of their castigations still hurts my soul""
                                                                                                         - she quivered

We have human rights activists, animal rights activists, and even environment activists. Where is your vigour gone when I can see a living being disparaged to death!!!
What about the conscious and apoplectic human rights' fanatics who have been arguing against infringement of rights? Ain't the paying heed?


Well, after being ostracized by the society, she walked further....

"I met some drunkards, they asked me to entertain them, I did so, I wanted something for my stomach!"
                                                                                                         - she stammered

How many of us are ready to sell our dignity for the sake of our stomach?
None of us, indeed!
If you'd prefer to die instead, get ready to accept the tag of 'coward' against your name.
I am certainly not an apologist for selling one's dignity for stomach, rather want to stand against all apologists defending the hideous monsters who have left no alternative for the victims who have been pushed to breathe in this purgatory. Indeed, we are able to maintain our dignity simply because we are not subjected to these atrocities.

And the tale continues, as she gets ready the other day to raise her voice against the discrimination.

"The men accused me being insolent, buffeted me and assaulted ...But I was firm in my decision. I refused to toe the line."

"and now the world calls me an 'Eunuch' "

This is what they did to her!!!

"Its not me who is an impediment or a burden to this society, rather its them, those masqueraded monsters who deserve to be jettisoned, banished from their houses and the society. If they ought not accept their fault, then why am I blamed?. Where has the judicial system of my country gone? "
                                                                                              - she asked reproachfully

I couldn't answer, for my own country people have donned despise for one another..
Whilst these incidents are happening, half of us are in trance, or infused in our lives or are fighting to win a fair whack of contracts for ourselves.
This attitude of ours is certainly ominous.
Then what can be done?
Should we set for a crusade to find this anonymous aforementioned personality and commiserate, or penalize the culprits in a court?!

I don't have an answer to this question. This is a tale of every other transgender , who has been a victim of aversion for no reason.
Lets ask ourselves, why are they loathed to death, smothered because we can't see them taking in their whack of fresh air, strangulated because their act of scourging is pestering us, when they  importunate our society for due respect and reverence...

"I haven't upped the ante for unaffordable opulent accoutrements, but just for my dignity, which is my birthright"
                                                                                            - she asserts



                                                                                          - Sruthi Iyer

Rainbows Are Real ~ about the film

Speculating  the plight of transgenders all over the world, we think that they ought to get their rights and dignity that they deserve.

 Everyday, we expect that initiatives should be taken for the amelioration, but we forget that, the most imperative step is an affirmative action emanating from our behavior.

The film "Rainbows are Real", is our  first step towards depicting the reality of the straight-jacketed  mindset of the society, towards our own people. The film tries to capture the multiple facets of the lives of transgenders through a docu-fiction style of storytelling, along with the use of vibrant colors, indicating the spectrum of emotions in the stories of the characters involved. The evolution of our initiative can be attributed to the heresic beliefs of the society to accept a breed of their own civilization.  

The film intends to use various modes of communication to keep this issue alive in masses and bring a social change. Documentaries are often accused of its boring nature, especially due to the lack of creative camera tricks, and because of the monotonous style of narration.  These accusations can be objected, if the documentaries are more riveting, and are made to depict astounding facts, in an eclectic style.

Likewise, the film intends to set up an  environment which would try to bring the squalor images of the reality. The idea is to have visually pleasing and eye-catching factors like edgy editing and lighting, and other characteristics of documentaries designed to enhance the narration, which would make the experience more cinematic, and infuse a new dynamism in the field, thereby creating a new market for documentaries.

Transgenders have been continously ostracised from every sphere of public lives . This film is an attempt to discover the lives of transgenders and their engagements with society in an increasingly globalised world. The story is presented in a docu-fiction format, where experiences and plight of people from varied backgrounds are depicted. It moves from the launda dancers of Uttar Pradesh, the Aravanis of Tamil Nadu,  to the Hijra community and their complex guru-chela relationship.

The film also sheds light on the landmark Delhi High Court judgment of 2009, which scrapped portions of the Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. Justice Muralidharan quoted the saying of Nehruvian era, ‘Words are magic things often enough, but even the magic of words sometimes cannot convey the magic of the human spirit and of a Nation’s passion (The Resolution) seeks very feebly to tell the world of what we have thought or dreamt of for so long, and what we now hope to achieve in the near future.” 

The film tries to revive the words, and hopes to suffuse the feeling of brotherhood and equality in the genes of the society.

Documentaries, of the aforementioned kind, are generally expected to be dull and depressing, but the film would also try to focus on the dreams, aspirations and inspirations of the transgenders, that help them to surge forward and keep the fight for equality, justice and dignity on.

"Just the genre can't perturb a sense, unless the inner sense gets, by itself"

                                                                                                           

                    - Sruthi Iyer

"I am a Transgender" ~ plight of transgenders in the society

 "I am a transgender"

"I want to be treated equally"

"State an acceptable reason to loathe me, or help me come out of my horrendous state"

                                                                                ~shrieks of a transgender

 Where is the equality, justice and the socialistic view of the country,

when the constitution conceits in providing all of them? What is the significance of fundamental rights,  when they aren’t applicable to all citizens of the country?!

The first and foremost question arises about  the fundamental right to life,

which includes right to live with dignity.

Are they granted the respect and reverence they crave for?

Transgender, in our society, encompass all races, ethnicity, religious and social classes,

yet, they’ve never enjoyed a respectable life, because of “what they are” and “how they are”.

They are subjected to confusions and anguish, resulting from the rigid, forced conformity

to sexual dimorphism throughout the recorded history. They are facing disparities linked to

societal stigma, discrimination, and denial of their civil and human rights. Discrimination against them have been associated with high rates of substance abuse and suicides,

and they are facing rampant discrimination in the areas of family life, social life, housing,

education, health etc.

They've been continuously subjected to hear and assimilate abuses from people about them. Their lives have always been subjected to abstaining from the colors of the world,

just because of the denial of social acceptance.

The society views them as eccentric characters, which wouldn’t fit into the prescribed

sanctimonious bounds.

The azure sky shrouds everybody, including them, but the entire spectrum of our visualization of the community crumbles around the connotations of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender. The queer thing about us, is when, we ourselves make laws to ensure respectable standards of living, and avert our eyes from seeing the denial of these rights to our own people. The feeling of despise towards them have reached such an extent, that, we have let them in the abyss of poverty, discrimination and disparities. If a person is seen consorting with them, the society seems to oppose the action, which leads to nothing, but wrenching their self-esteem from the roots.

Albeit unsolicited, as most of us may feel, we should give them an equal status and reverence they deserve. The feeling of unity must suffuse throughout the society.

Don’t sympathize, just empathize with them, and feel the smile glinting on their faces.

We can’t scurry the changes to arrive, but we can certainly, take a step forward to initiate a change. Innit?!

                                                                                             ---Sruthi Iyer