Peopleofperiferry

Not more than 4 month ago, I told my parents that I’m off to Chennai to seek a job. But in all honesty I was running away from my family and the society. I come from a small village in Tamil Nadu — from a humble and orthodox background. Hence ‘coming out’ in my village was unfathomable. So I ran away! I ran for a new life — that is true to myself.

I came to Chennai without a plan. Through the journey from my village to Chennai, I looked up organisations that support trans persons and I came across PeriFerry. I called them as soon I reached and told them to help me. The team came almost immediately to see me at the railway station but as my luck had it, my phone stopped working. I spent the entire day trying to fix my phone but I couldn’t.

The same night, I managed to it and called the team again. This time we planned to meet the next morning. I was certain to inform my whereabouts in advance and stay right there!

I met the team and they reassured that I am not alone. I was told that anybody could gain financial independence for as long as one works hard for it. I was advised to go back home and not come out until something was arranged. I did just that — I went back home and waited for the opportunity. After a month of waiting, I was called in for a training program. Without any hesitation, I agreed to be a part of it.

During the training program, it was the first time that I met so many trans people together. Each with their own experiences to share, each with their own battles to fight. For the first time in my life, I felt like I belonged. I made friends for a lifetime, some of them told me how navigate through various family and professional issues. I felt at home for a brief while.

When I reflect over the last 4 months of my life, I feel I’ve transitioned multi folds. I left my hometown with very little money and a lot of determination. I knew my education wouldn’t fail me, and it didn’t. I realized then that if I have the knowledge, if I have the willingness to fight the odds, I will thrive. And I did!

I have now started working at Accenture as a Business Associate. And it is only the beginning of a long, exciting journey ahead. While I’ve settled in professionally, I continue to talk to my family and make them understand things, slowly but surely. This time again with a lot more confidence and empathy.

I hope that my friends who are reading this will continue to be hopeful. Trans youth must believe that they have a better future — and that we will continue to strive for a fairer, more just society for the future generations.

I spent most of my school life in Qatar. In 9th standard, I asked out a boy in my class and was rejected. When I returned to school the next week, I was the entire school’s laughing stock; I couldn’t bear it. I moved to a different school, even though it was just for a year. I moved to Kerala for my higher secondary education. I had already asked my mother if I could move back to Kerala.

My mother always wanted me to be a doctor, but I realised that the performing arts were my calling; I moved out and enrolled in B.A. Performance Arts at Christ University, Bangalore. For three months, everything was fine until one day, my roommate reported my “queerness” to the warden. I was forced to move out. Seven other students also moved out with me; we did a strike at the hostel. Nothing came out of it though, we just got suspended for three months.

In due course of time, I obtained a degree in Kuchipudi and also learned many other forms of Indian classical dance. I even joined a graduate degree in Gender Studies at Calicut University but I had to drop out even though I was the second rank holder in the first year. My father passed away a year and a half ago; things have gotten easier at home since. My brother has always been very supportive, and my mother has also accepted me. My house is now quite queer-friendly and my mother even makes sure that she cooks good food for every friend of mine who comes over!

I have performed in Malaysia, Spain, Dubai, Qatar and many other places. I wish I could be on stage all my life. I have even worked with the Kerala government as their Resource Person. This allowed me to work with a lot of minority groups. With all these years of education and experience to back me up, I am now part of Revive x Thoughtworks organised by PeriFerry, ?”

- Amna



Photo: .in
Text edited for brevity.

“It’s a girl!” my grandmother called out, without looking properly. Of course, people soon realised that I was biologically male. If only she had been right. As I was growing up, I would be the only child who would help my mother in the kitchen while all my brothers played. Nobody had a problem with this until one day I proclaimed that I was my mother’s “daughter”; my mother was taken aback and I suppressed what I felt. If only my grandmother had been right.

For more than fifteen years of my life, I experienced extreme gender dysphoria; I had nobody to talk to, and I could not understand why I felt trapped in the wrong body. I stopped my education with the SSC. My father passed away. After hearing about it from someone I knew, I joined the F&B/Hospitality department on a cruise ship. I travelled a lot and met a lot of people over the course of the two years that I worked on the ship. I moved on and joined Third Eye Cafe in Mumbai, an all-trans cafe where I was the assistant restaurant manager. I quickly rose through the ranks and even trained new employees, but I had to quit.

Now, equipped with years of experience in the hospitality sector, I am a part of Revive x Thoughtworks organised by PeriFerry. ?”

-Josein



Photo: .in
Text edited for brevity.

I am Rashika and I’m from Kolkata. Right from when I was in high school, I was rather “effeminate”. It wasn’t just me; we were a group of 5-6 boys. I still hadn’t come out to my parents though, my father worked in a Hindu mission which meant that my family was very conservative. I finally mustered the courage to come out to my parents in 11th standard. They did not believe me- they thought that this was the influence of my friends from school. They took me to a psychiatrist who was rather understanding and gave me medicines. By then I had also started taking hormone supplements with the help of my friends; my phone came in quite handy.

Soon, I enrolled for B.A. Commerce and joined college. My long hair and my gait (which wasn’t the norm, but it was what felt right to me) made me the laughing stock of all the boys in college. Unable to handle the mental torture meted out by my fellow students, I quit after my first year of college. I then moved to Pune; a friend of mine who was a bar dancer there asked me to come over and start anew. I couldn’t live there for long and was forced to move away due to bad work conditions and occasional raids.

I moved to Mumbai and started s*x work. My mind, however, was set on somehow working towards a respectable job that I could be proud of and tell my parents about. A friend of mine called asking me to come back to Kolkata. They offered to support me financially until I could find a respectable job. This was a blessing and I grabbed it. I managed to receive beauty/make-up training and found employment as a beauty advisor. By now, though my family hadn’t accepted me completely, they had definitely become more comfortable than they were before. I brought up S*x Reassignment Surgery but my workplace would hear none of it, forcing me to quit.

Finally, I moved to Bengaluru in search of a job. This is where I was introduced to PeriFerry. Now, I am a part of Revive x Thoughtworks. I am quite confident that this training program will help me secure what I’ve always wanted; a respectable job. ?”



Photo: .in
Text edited for brevity.