I was just going through a blog of a friend recently, when i came across an article he had written regarding the eunuchs or hijras he comes across in the second class compartments of our trains. What he mentions ther, rang a bell in my mind. The fact is, while i do consider myself an extremely tolerant individual, i have to admit, even i have felt a sense of repulsion at the claps which accompany their arrival, whenever i am in a train. And i hav also been guilty of handing over loose change to them, just so that i can get rid of them.
While they do behave seemingly despicably in public, i was curious. What i have read up makes me feel that all they are doing is getting their back on a society which has given them nothing but ridicule and harassment. Most of these hijras are basically males who realising they are gay, just could not tolerate the idea of living with a woman, and, in the face of the unforgiving public, decided to castrate themselves and join one of the hijra households. Their main source of livelihood became begging and prostitution, not by choice, but because they are simply not recognised to get a job elsewhere. There are a few, though, who are born without their genitals. For the most though, they have to undergo a painful castration procedure, before they can achieve so called salvation. Through my pals blog, i came across this fascinating link regarding their existence. Do read it.
http://www.thingsasian.com/stories-photos/2022
You do wonder, and feel, for these people. India is a country based on rigid social norms and customs. The idea of even accepting a homosexual, is something people would shudder away from. I do wonder, when are we ever going to realise? To each his own..If somebody is gay, that hardly is their fault. And while i would like to believe that this is a norm only with the older generation, some experiences i have had, even with casual buddies, tells a different story. The reaction i have got from this so called younger generation, ranged from disgust to a feeling that these people should never really be allowed to roam freely.
I just hope, the next time i meet one of them on a train journey through the country, i will be able to see through my own revulsion.
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3 comments:
That was something thoughtful,but if u are an hindu and believe in birth after death then it would be called the karma of their previous birth.
Ofcourse they cannot be blmed for everything what they are but is it good to encourage them by giving money each time they approach us?
I dont,but i still give them coz i fear them.
yea, well..i really dont believe in organised religion per se, so the hindu factor is out of the question..its a convenient way of putting things i feel.. about the giving money..yea, thats what even i said, i also giv it out of a repulsion for them.. the only way to improve it is by recognising them, i guess...
Live in any western or eastern country, things are not different here, but can see a more accepting crowd here....
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