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Journalism of Courage
As Vijaya Vasave goes about her duty as a forest guard in the remote Akkalkuwa taluka of Nandurbar district, she crosses the very paths she had dreaded in her youth. Vasave, the first person to have been issued the transgender certificate by the government, has now made history by being the first transgender woman to have been appointed by the Government of Maharashtra’s forest department as a forest guard.
In 2023, when the state government had advertised for the vacancies, Vijaya was perhaps the only transwoman to apply for the post. While technical hurdles kept on coming, Vijaya kept up her fight, not hesitating to move to the high court too if necessary. “Our recruitment was under the tribal category and it went through only after the tribal MLAs started agitating,” she said.
Government recruitments were not new to her, but the present one included both physical as well as a written test. “Jalgaon based Deepstambh foundation took care of me like a daughter, which was necessary given the stress I was going through. But the Forest department allotted two senior officers who helped me–- this was the first time I was accorded this treatment,” she said.
Born in a tribal family as Vijay, life has been anything but easy for Vijaya. Her schooling was done in Ashramshalas (the residential tribal schools) where she was the butt of jokes due to her effeminate nature. While speaking to The Indian Express, Vijaya talked about the physical and mental abuse she faced by both teachers and her fellow students. The abuse she faced during that time provoked suicidal tendencies in her, as she recalls sleeping with a bottle of floor cleaner beside her on those nights.
Life took a different turn for Vijaya, when she was a college student in Nashik and attended a lecture by Pune based LGBTQ activist Bidumadhav Khire. “Prior to the lecture I was under the impression that I was a misfit,” she said.
In 2019, Vijaya finished her graduation and took admission in the Pune based Karve Institute of Social Sciences for her MSW (Masters in Social Work). It was then that she started the long process of transition which involved therapy along with surgical and hormonal treatments. “I come from a tribal farmer family, and the dichotomy within me was not clear to any one. But since childhood I felt I was a woman, so once my transition was complete, I managed to be at peace with myself,”she said.
After her transition, Vijaya worked on contractual positions with the National Aids Research Institute (NARI) while preparing for government examinations.
In absence of horizontal reservation, transwomen like Vijaya have to compete in the women’s category, which at times poses a challenge given the shock of transition and change their bodies have gone through. It was the same for Vijaya but thanks to her perseverance, she managed to clear both the written as well as physical examinations. She has since been posted to Akkalkuwa taluka of Nandurbar. “All my adult life I have been in a cosmopolitan city like Pune, so being back home is like a different life,” she said.
Vijaya and her remarkable story has now become common knowledge in Nandurbar. “To be honest, people in Nandurbar had never seen a transition where a biological man can become a woman. So when I go about my duty, people stare,” she said. Through her social media accounts Vijaya, says she has been approached by others in the district. “I try to help them the best way I can. In this remote part of the state, where time often stops, any information is always welcome,” she said.
