Transgenders transcend traditions in unique national talent hunt

“Ek minute,let me put on my sari properly,” the same voice replayed,its speaker turning away from the half-a-dozen photojournalists wincing behind their cameras,all pointed at her. “How horrible you all can be yaar!”

After the sari was neatly tucked in,the voice called out again,“Music please!”

Lakshmi Narayan Tripathi (arguably India’s most well-known transgender and,in this audition,one of the judges along with,among others,gay prince of Rajpipla,Manvendra Singh Gohil) sauntered on-stage and stood in front of 16 other transgenders; decked in their finest,hoping to be the community’s Gujarat representative in the first national talent hunt for the “Most Talented Transgenders”.

The girls stood with one hand akimbo just over their number tags,facing the stage with chests heaving in sync with the track booming from the speakers,recovering from the catwalks five minutes ago and waiting to know which three among them would make it through this audition and go to the February 6 semi-finals in Mumbai.

An hour before the declaration of results,when the auditions broke for lunch,Lakshmi had confided: “Sometimes I just wish I never started this thing. I’m so bloody tired. I hardly got to sleep last night. Here,darling,give me a hand and help me get up. I’m getting acidity! I need lunch!”

If you talk to Lakshmi long enough,‘Talent Hunt’ is deceptive for those who think the auditions were looking for the best singers or best dancers among the transgenders of Gujarat,and ultimately,India.

“I haven’t even had a boyfriend in a decade. There’s just no time. I feel so alone sometimes,” she said,sitting on a white-plastic chair on the front-edge of the stage,every now and then rubbing the cheeks of the transgenders who came alongside just to say hello and touch her feet.

The idea behind the national contest,Lakshmi explains,is to train transgenders to do what she has been doing already – swing the public opinion in their favour so that the community becomes mainstream.

So,is it becoming mainstream?

“You know what,when I landed at the airport yesterday,there were these three small kids with their mother outside,and they came and shook my hand. The little girl sat on my lap,another was trying to button my dress so my cleavage didn’t show. It was so different. I don’t think kids used to do that to transgenders ever,” Lakshmi said.

But there are some,even inside the community,who are against her,she says.

“What I’m doing is breaking the hierarchy,breaking the pyramid,and the traditional-minded ones just can’t stand that sometimes,” she said.“We just want whatever basic rights we are entitled to in the Constitution. We want education; we want jobs like everyone else. So,please don’t forget to mention Vcare is helping us organise this. They’ve even promised they’ll take transgenders on their payroll. Give them jobs,you know. It’s just so sweet of them,don’t you think?”