What should I call them, He or She?
I was 13 when I saw a group of Hijras for the 1st time. It was my uncle’s wedding and they had come over to bless the new couple, in the morning after the ceremony. They were loud! In the way they dressed. In the way they spoke. In the way they sang in their off tune nasal voice. They sang and clapped while dancing - a combination of totally unnecessary actions, I thought, considering they weren’t even invited to the event. The guests still present at the house quickly dispersed when the Hijras asked for money in return to blessing the couple. I was surprised how instantaneously even the friends scattered, leaving my helplessly irritated uncle amidst the slow strategically surrounding Hijras. The elders all around were either uninterested or felt disobliged to answer me, who was going around in a loop asking ‘Who are they?’, ‘Why have they come?’, ‘Is he a she?’, ‘Why is he dressed like a woman?’ Some told me to be quiet and to not ask such inappropriate questions. Some directed me wi...