My intention in supporting I Am Trans is to work for all human beings, and not any particular gender. In society today, many roles are defined by gender, but that need not be the case. In my view, every person should be able to choose what they would like to do with their lives. However, this was not always my thinking. I too was part of the same society that classifies a person into either male or female. My advocacy for diversity and inclusion was restricted to the feminist point of view, focusing on women only. It was only after I spoke to Dr Yoga for the first time, albeit with some fear and hesitation, that I was made aware of this huge blind spot! 

Now when I look back on how we first came to know each other it seems like destiny. She sent me an invitation on LinkedIn and soon we got to know each other. Many times I made the mistake of addressing her as him but she was willing to be open and vulnerable with me despite that. I am very fortunate that with Giving Circle, I have the ability to do something for her and the larger transgender community in India. 

Speaking to Dr Yoga has opened my eyes to my own biases and wrongdoings in the past, including the way I used to treat a transgender person at a traffic signal or indeed any other occasion. I never made any eye contact nor gave them the slightest consideration as fellow human beings. Whatever I will do here onwards for the community will probably not make up for the all wrong done earlier. But being aware of my insensitivity and admitting it is the first step I am taking towards bringing a change within myself and the larger society on our attitudes and treatment of the transgender community.

Those who created us, created them. That says it all for me. As a person who believes in equality, I see no reason for hierarchies nor exclusion based on age, colour, class, or gender. The world around us, whether professional or person, is full of opportunities for us to improve the lives of other human beings as well as the planet. Yet, many of us close our eyes to the inequality and simply accept the conditioning we have received from society. 

Even for those of us who want to action change in the world, the transgender person is probably the last in the list of priorities. As a person who believes in equal rights and dignity for all, I would like to build awareness around the injustice served by society towards transgender people and especially the parents and the relatives. I would like to create an acceptance towards the cause because I believe that acceptance is the key to making a change for the transgender community. From acceptance will come friendship and with friendship will come care. 

I would like your support in accepting the transgender community and befriending transgender people so that they are not alienated, so that they have a chance to drop their rough and tough exterior and feel safe enough around us. As the co-founder at Giving Circle, I feel fortune to have the opportunity to support this cause not just at a personal level but to be able to provide institutional support as the cause expands.

There are very few people in India who can say that they have never crossed paths with a transgender person. And equally true is the fact that just a few people can claim that they have had insightful interactions with a transgender person. 

The much misunderstood community came to my notice at a serious level when my friend at TISS (Tata Institute of Social Sciences) chose to study sexual orientation as a part of her thesis. She was the first one to offer me a glimpse into the lives of the transgender community. A few years later on my way to work, I would meet a transgender person practically every day at a road signal. Irrespective of whether I gave alms, she would shower generous blessings and goodwill on me, which I cherish to this day. Perhaps that too added to my sensitivity towards them.

More than two decades later, while doing relief work during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020,  our organisation, MASHAL, had the opportunity to interact with  a wonderful human being named Dr Yoga Nambiar, who is a transgender herself. Her penchant for learning and enterprise is remarkable. With the help of her chelaas and volunteers our efforts at providing ration kits, running community kitchens and the surakshit safar seva for migrants workers succeeded.

 The two months that I worked alongside her  triggered the resolve in me to support the transgender community in their efforts at being better understood by the society at large and to ensure that the community too looks inwards to better understand their changing circumstances.

I have been associated with developmental activities for many years. Strangely, none of the groups I worked with were associated with transgender rights. In Mumbai, I used to see transgenders in local trains singing, begging and pestering the passengers.  Like all others, I am ashamed to say, I too tried to avoid them. I must admit that it never occurred to me that I should try to understand the problems of transgenders  and contribute towards their upliftment.

About 10 years ago, I happened to read the autobiography, The Truth About Me: A Hijra Life Story by A. Revathi. It is a powerful story of a person who has been marginalised because he was born a male and wanted to live the life of a woman. It is Revathi’s account of her experience of discrimination, ridicule and pain. I marvelled at how Revathi could endure all those insults, physical and mental pain, isolation, and then have the courage to document them. It traumatised me and shook me up. It made me realise what is meant by ‘marginalised’. After getting to understand them better, I felt compelled to pursue an agenda to demystify the community and their ways. 

Fortunately, the opportunity did arrive during the Covid-19 lockdown. My colleagues, Neeta Chalke and Sharad Mahajan of MASHAL, initiated a massive relief programme to help the migrants with food rations and make travel arrangements for them to return to their native places.