wanted to earn a respectable living. The time was very depressing for me, I wanted work, I wanted respect. I had no support no family, my relationships were failing and so was my mental health.

I started off as a cab driver, met my husband, got married. But after sometime, the marriage also didn’t work out the way that I would have liked it to .


It was around this time, I started an NGo after I met people from my community, my aim was to make sure every one lives an honorable life. I am working for CFar as consultant for their transgender work, work for government project on engagement of transgenders, I also have a buisness of my own which is running successfully.
Today due to our advocacy we have mainstreamed atleast 500 transpersonal, although the community has a population of at least 22,000 people, we still have a long way to go.
At this time, my gender identity is not a problem. I am a respectable person in the society but that doesn't mean every transgender is. About 90 percent are still in sex work, make ends meet with begging or taking alms at weddings and births, that needs to change. We need more consolidated effort from the government. The concept of transgender is actually not clear in bureaucracy, they need to understand the community more.
So for me empowerment for women be it transgender or cis gender is when they have good health both mental and physical, so she can be a successful woman. It's not just for transwomen all women need to be of sound mind to be more productive. There should be more livelihood opportunities, there is not much work and acceptance, if a transgender is physically and mentally well, they can excel in every field. My dream is there should be zero sex work among transgenders in Odissa.
Keep reading this space to know more about me.
As told to @ToufiqRashid