India is one among the very few countries who gave electoral right to a third gender. Yes! We gave right to vote for the Hijra community. But India is a country where people think homosexuality is immoral. It is still a Taboo to our Government and society. As per the Indian Penal code section 377, making sex with the person of same gender is punishable by law. Now, the Parliament again voted down Shashi Tharoor’s private member’s bill to decriminalize homosexuality I would like to introduce a book to you all about the transgender community in India. We have already seen so many novels & biographies by the transgender community, this one is a joint effort by Dr. Shayan Haq and Santhosh Avvannavar.
![Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000026_00004]](https://nimzrevealed.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/shefull.jpg?w=3121&h=2489)
Titled as SHE-Ek La Cholo Re; inspired by Rabinthranath Tagore’s verses from the title ‘Eka’ in his song anthologyBaul, published in Bhandar magazine in 1905. The story itself set on the backdrop of Calcutta in 1990. SHE is a well written story packed in 50 pages. A story weaved from a single journey between two unknowns. Story on life of Kusum, whose identity fells in between he and she. It revolves around the life of a transgender; which shows the struggle of a person to be themselves and more. It gives the perfect picture of how oddly our society treats them and how worse the other people makes them feel about themselves. A story of brave heart whose identity is blurred cause of the social conditions around. And it is all about finding one’s own identity among all odds.
SHE starts when Raj meets Kusum in the road as a strange woman waiting for a lift and it ends on how Kusum’s life story touches Raj by hearing her on their drive to the destination. The novel ends giving a wonderful climax and it makes us think more on the sacrifices a person have to do to be her own or his own. As gender is a fact that we gain by the time we start our life in a womb; often it makes a difference cause of the hormonal imbalance or the matter of mind. It is a person’s wish to be on which gender he/she should belong; and society is the major fact that kills people’s own self and slashes their identity from the whole world. We know there is a very big LGBT community around us; even we support them. But no one is ready to raise their voice for them all because we think what others will think when we support them.
That is the main factor why I dragged SHE into my post to make everyone realize that they all are people too and they all have a heart. No one wish for a life in a closed chamber where everyone shoots them with blaming eyes. Let everyone be their own & let everyone get the privileges equally!
Everyone have their own freedom in their life; to choose and to live!
‘Jodi Tor Dak Shune Keu NA Ase Tobe Ekla Cholo Re’
‘If no one responds to your call, then go your own way alone!’
Image courtesy : http://www.dailymail.co.uk & Santhosh Avvannavar
Originally posted in Bolte Raho
Nimz revealed 
5 responses to “SHE – EK LA CHOLO RE! A peep into LGBT community in India”
Nice ! There will always be enough said and yet a lot that needs to be told. I wrote about something on this, yet I feel there needs to be a brand new approach that has to be in place, since awareness is not what suffice. The issue needs to be dealt at its core and freedom needs to be provided with some set of rules.
Because if u providing freedom is not what it takes, as we can see 67 years of Independence n we are running as shit !
You are absolutely right Bhanu.. This have to be taken into another level rather than keeping it as an issue for awareness.. We have to do a lot more to make the LBGT community feel their freedom and all the rights to live as a normal person.
And you are absolutely true that we are ruining that independence we gained 67 years back!!
Even if you provide them freedom, just make sure you know what you have to do after providing them freedom ?
You see National leaders fought for freedom, then when it was time to conceptualize what we do with freedom it took 2 years to build the Constitution and what happened after that ? Nothing much !
We never had Population control!
And every 5 years same stuff is discussed upon and amendments made. Nothing essentially change.
So I ask you –
Once u give this community, freedom – which essentially you haven’t yet quite defined it – what do you do with that freedom.
So may I please ask you humbly to
– Define the freedom clearly for this community
– Once they get what they want, what would be the approach to streamline the entire system. Like the normal n LGBT. What is your proposition to make sure it doesn’t disrupt the overall lifestyle ?
Freedom means right to leave in their own wishes. The main issue faced by this community is society is treating them in another way. They are facing humiliation from the people around and are not privileged with the common rights of a person.
If we consider and treat them as a different creature definitely it will effect our normal lifestyle. We must be ready to realize that they too are common human being with their wish to live in another gender state. Then, it won’t make any disrupt to us.
I hope you be sure and it happens the way !
Because one Man chose to separate a great nation and wondered to give freedom to live people differently and we are doomed for so long, because of that one decision.
Not to say if it didn’t happen, everything would have been wonderful, but since it did happen n it went bitter. I am totally reluctant to freedom fighters who don’t have a detailed plan laid out about – Definition of Freedom, The Choices they make and the after world. Everything needs to be defined clearly and followed.
Just for the sake of further discussion – They day when it will be so liberal enough that one may not be able to pursue what his/her own thoughts are, the choices made on the base of confused thoughts would never attain – Peace.
Physical demarcation is rightly supported, but mental n psychology demarcation, I am not sure how it can be calibrated ? Please throw some light here.