At A Glance: India’s First Transgender People In Various Fields!

Written By: Sonali
August 25, 2020
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While we never miss out praising our women for being the first in their respective domain of work, we often overlook the achievements that our trans women struggle for — from being the first-ever lawyer, RJ, principal, MLA, highest degree holder to even the supermodel, these iconic ladies have shattered the unwanted social tantrums and proved that your talent and merit have nothing to do with your gender or sexuality!

Here are few of the iconic trans ladies who went on to become the first transgender people of the country in their respective domain of work.

Sathyasri Sharmila

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India’s first transgender lawyer, Sathyasri shunned the stereotypical mindset behind, fought the gender abusive community and established an example by pursuing law so that she can fight against injustice.

“Today, I enrolled my name in the Bar Council Of Tamil Nadu And Puducherry and became the first transgender lawyer in India. I have struggled a lot in my life,” she told ANI in July 2018.

Atri Kar

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India’s first transgender schoolteacher who appeared for the West Bengal Public Service Commission, Atri fought two long years of a legal battle. 

The policy which enables transgender people to apply for education and employment under the ‘other’ category wasn’t implemented everywhere due to which Atri couldn’t apply for the exam. She fought against WBPSC in the Calcutta High Court, appealed to the State Administrative Tribunal, which decided the case in her support.

K Prithika Yashini

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India’s first transgender sub-inspector in Tamil Nadu state police, Prithika opted for a sex change surgery and fulfilled her dreams of becoming a police officer. 

She had to approach the court, elicit an informal enquiry and cross several hurdles to fulfil her dream of becoming a police officer.

Joyita Mondal

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India’s first transgender judge, Joyita was appointed at Lok Adalat in North Bengal at the age of 29. 

Mondal decided to obtain a degree in law after working for transgender rights organisations.

Manabi Bandopadhyay

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India’s first transgender college principal, Manabi is also the first Indian transgender to complete Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). 

She used to teach as an associate professor in Bengali at Vivekananda Satobarshiki Mahavidyalaya earlier.

Shabnam Mausi

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India’s first transgender MLA, Shabnam contested elections from Sohagpur constituency in district Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh.

As her family did not support her, she wasn’t able to attend school, yet she learnt almost 12 different languages.

Tarika Banu

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India’s first transgender student to clear the 12th Board exams (HSC exams), Tarika had run away from her home in Thoothukudi district at the age of 6 after realising that she wasn’t accepted for who she was.

Transgender activist Grace Banu adopted her and helped her in getting a new name, official identification and undergoing a sex reassignment surgery. 

Kajal

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Coastal Karnataka’s first transgender radio jockey, Kajal suffered from the deep distress of gender dysphoria at a young age. 

She left her home at the age of 10 and settled in Mumbai’s Malad; got support by MGM college lecturer Manjunath Kamath, who connected her to Spandana Channel’s Avinash Kamath who trained her for two months to host shows. 

Ganga Kumari

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Rajasthan State Police Force’s first and India’s third transgender police, Ganga couldn’t get the post in 2015 because of her gender clarity issue and rules of appointment.

She struggled for two years to claim her right to don the uniform and serve the nation on 13 November 2017.

Mona Varonica Campbell

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India’s plus-size transgender model, Mona experienced gender dysphoria early in childhood. She underwent hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and sex reassignment surgery with the help of her family.

She worked with numerous international brands before she opened the show for designer Wendell Rodricks at Lakmé Fashion Week.

Stay tuned for some more inspirational stories!

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Sonali

A 'non-9-5 desk job' ambivert geek who chooses her own audience, Sonali loves sharing stories and finding the corners where humanity still exists! She believes that every individual's story is unique and special. She loves writing about the untouched and unspoken segments of society. When not writing, you can find her listening to someone's stories or playing with dogs. Sonali values mental health and encourages people to speak their heart out!

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World Tribal Day: “Not All Adivasis are From Jungles!”

Written By: Sonali
August 9, 2020 | 07:49 AM |
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I’ve known Jyoti for more than a year — the first time we met, I had to wait for 15 minutes to reply to her, because she didn’t stop talking!! She has always been this bubbly and jolly woman who loves making people ROFL with her jokes.

Being from a Santhal family and an Adivasi tribe, she realized how the majority across the nation fails to recognize the indigenous tribes of the country. On the occasion of ‘International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples’ aka ‘World Tribal Day’, here’s a quick anecdote from Jyoti’s life telling who and what Adivasis/ indigenous people are, their tribe and this day is all about!

“Adivasi ho? Haan lagti bhi ho!”
“Adivasi? Matlab jungle se?”
“Do you guys also do hula-lala?”

These were a few of the common yet idiotic questions that people often asked while stumbling upon Jyoti. “Initially, I felt bad upon hearing such questions and refrained from answering them but eventually, I looked at them as an opportunity to teach people about my tribe, religion and to bust the myths that they carried,” Jyoti said.

Jyoti did her initial schooling from Daltonganj. “I only knew Santhali as a language, and I had no idea about Hindi. I remember my teacher scolded me because I couldn’t understand her words,” Jyoti recalled an incident from kindergarten. “That’s when my parents decided to talk to us in Hindi at home so that we can understand and learn and communicate with others. It was difficult, but I did it,” she continued.

On ‘World Tribal Day’, here’s a quick anecdote about who and what Adivasis/ indigenous people are, their tribe and this day are all about!
Jyoti making Handia

Jyoti did her graduation from National Institute of Fashion Technology. She was a quiet fellow throughout her college life, “I never really indulged in conversations much — whether it was about the religion or caste or festivals or home — or about my examinations ranks. I couldn’t tell them that I was a scheduled tribe and got admissions through ST quota. One of my good friends in college suggested that I must not tell others about my caste/ religion or tribe. I might be judged as someone from the lower class, and people may stop talking to me!”

Hul Divas [Gurucharan Murmu]

But it was until she didn’t shift to Mumbai after her graduation. Her professional life in Mumbai taught her a lot, and accepting one’s identity was one of them. “Sometimes, I found their questions offending, but it was a great opportunity to teach them about the vivid culture we carry. So when they bantered about our food or dance, I jokingly said, “arre nahi yaar! This is what we eat, and this is how we dance/ wear clothes.” There was so much to tell and teach them — there still is. And gradually, people started taking an interest in my tribe, other tribes and such conversations,” Jyoti laughs.

Tusu Festival [Sahapedia]

Jyoti originally belongs to a small rural village in Jharkhand — Bankati. Her father was the only man who completed his education and took up a job at that time. Unlike several members of his tribe, he understood the value of education and pushed his kids to the same. People back in the village are still not very aware of the city lives and the value of education and other skills development. They mostly rely on farming and making ‘handia’ for livelihood.

What’s more fascinating are her festivals, food and religion, and I bet there would be so many people who wouldn’t be aware of these! 

Jaaher Grah [Wikipedia]

Jyoti belongs to the Santhal tribe, and her religion is Sarna, but since they have not been recognized by the government yet, she writes ‘Hindu’ in the religion column. Like other religions, they also have separate traditions and have different ways of worshipping. They don’t have temples but ‘Jaaher Grah’, but unfortunately, you won’t find any recognized Jaaher in Jharkhand. All the tribes following Sarna religion worship in Jaaher. “We also recently celebrated ‘Gomha Parab’. Our food is different, there is no caste as such, the way we drape sarees is different, our customs in marriages are different — and no, we don’t eat snakes or wear leaves!! People do farming, and we do eat rice,” Jyoti says further.

Chiti Ki Chatni

Jyoti and several other people like her have been judged and misunderstood because of the incomplete knowledge about the Adivasis we carry. “Adivasis are left only for entertainment I feel! They are deprived of so many rights and resources,” she says. How easy it is for us to hide our own shortcomings of not knowing about the people of our country and covering it with lame jokes!

World-Tribal-Day_-“Not-All-Adivasis-are-From-Jungles”-6
Maghe Parab [Gurucharan Murmu[

According to IWGIA, India comprises an estimated population of 104 million Indigenous people and 705 officially recognized ethnic groups; however, there are many more groups that are yet to be recognized and given the scheduled tribe status by the government.

August 9 is celebrated as International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples to ‘raise awareness and protect the rights of the world’s indigenous population’. Being from Jharkhand, I’ve also known some of these tribes, but thanks to Jyoti, I’m more aware and trying to learn more.

How many of you are aware of such tribes and traditions?

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Sonali

A 'non-9-5 desk job' ambivert geek who chooses her own audience, Sonali loves sharing stories and finding the corners where humanity still exists! She believes that every individual's story is unique and special. She loves writing about the untouched and unspoken segments of society. When not writing, you can find her listening to someone's stories or playing with dogs. Sonali values mental health and encourages people to speak their heart out!

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