They were not worth a fight for Mahabharata's Bhishma in the mythological Kurukshetra battle, but they have been giving a tough fight to B-school professionals in the new millennium with their business ideas.
They are the 'Sheroes' of Kerala. Within four years, 'Shero', a collective of transgenders in Kerala's Alappuzha district, has launched an event management firm, a marriage bureau, a catering unit and an organic farming venture and reaping rich dividends.
In a first in the country, Alappuzha's transgender community had formed an exclusive Kudumbasree unit in 2015 with 30 transgenders joining hands to make a change in the mainstream society's attitude towards them.
They first tasted a major success when they set up a canteen for Nehru trophy boat race in 2018. (The boat race was postponed to November following the August deluge in Kerala). Several of the community members were also volunteers for the event management of the boat race. This effort was widely appreciated by the district administration and public, nudging 'Shero' to start an event management start-up on their own.
“We proved that we could do it excellently during the Nehru trophy boat race. It is hard for transgenders to achieve success in the mainstream society, which is biased against us. We overcome this problem with 'Shero'. All of us face society as a single unit. We are serious and ambitious about this project,” Arunima, a member of 'Shero', said.
According to her, everything went well so far. Earlier, the members used to think that nobody would assign a group of transgenders with crowd management and catering. But the response from the general public surprised 'Shero'. The group has handled around nine wedding receptions and several public events so far.
“People of Alappuzha welcomed our idea enthusiastically,” said Varada, a member of Shero Kudumbasree unit. “When we served food at a wedding reception here, the head of the family congratulated us and said he was waiting for the transgender people to emerge as a collective and creative group,” she said.
Organic farming venture
Shero has also started an organic farming group along with their event management project. Varada, Bala, Vani and other members collect organic seeds from Kudumbasree's self-help community and grow vegetables in their backyards. They sell the vegetables in the local market. It is a successful model till now. The farming team has also formed a Whatsapp group to share agriculture-related news, weather updates, fertilizer suggestions and market prices.
“Social acceptance is the basic reason for our success. Our families accepted us without any trouble. Moreover, the district administration and state government offer support to the initiatives,” Vani said.
Marriage bureau
The group's next project is a marriage bureau for finding matches for people without discriminating against gender, caste, sexuality and geographical identity. Explaining the concept, Arunima said the bureau will function like any conventional marriage bureau with a database of people who seek proposals. “Inter-caste and transgender marriages have so far been small scale affairs which usually occur in a registrar's office or at a temple. The task of a transgender-friendly marriage bureau will be tougher than a conventional one. We will have to understand the preferences of prospective brides and grooms, sometimes convince their families and find a perfect match without compromising their demands,” Arunima said.
Even before Kerala's first transgender marriage bureau started functioning, the brain behind this concept tied the knot with her long-time friend at a function planned and executed by 'Shero'. Arunima and Sulfikkar of Thiruvananthapuram got married on August 18.
District collector hails 'Shero'
The team also has plans to start a canteen on the premises of Alappuzha collectorate.
Commenting on the initiative, Alappuzha district collector Adeela Abdulla told Onmanorama, “I wouldn't reserve the canteen maintenance exclusively for people from the transgender community. I would employ people from mainstream society in the same canteen. They should mingle with mainstream society and become a part of it.”
The young IAS officer recalled an incident at an annual Kudumbasree fest in Thiruvananthapuram last year. She was accompanying a group of officials from Germany through the fest when they paused at a food stall managed by transgenders. “What is the speciality of this stall,” they asked. Adeela told them that it was a transgender-run cafeteria. The German officials asked why the transgenders were given a separate space.
“One of the German officials introduced himself as a transgender. I was enlightened by his words. I look forward to a scenario where transgenders lead their life like any other person in society,” she said.
