‘I Am Who I Am’: The Empowering Journey of a Transgender Pioneer

Last Updated: November 27, 2023

Welcome to the remarkable journey of ‘I Am Who I Am,’ a stirring narrative about a transgender doctor. Despite facing attempts to break her courage at every stage, society’s cabals aimed to shatter her dreams, yet she persisted. At each life juncture, she fought resolutely to fulfill her aspirations. Ready to embark on this empowering tale? Let’s immerse ourselves in her extraordinary story.

Today Archana is a successful doctor. She had to work hard to achieve this position. She was born into a prosperous family. A son was born in that house after two sisters. Therefore, his parents were highly pleased. The son was named Deepak. Parents used to caress Deepak more than two daughters.

Deepak was just eight years old, and he didn’t like to wear jeans and pants like other boys. He wanted to wear girls’ clothes. He would often wear his sisters’ clothes and put a lot of make-up on his face. For family, it was a game of Deepak, and they used to laugh at his deeds.

Now Deepak was fourteen years old. There was something that was disconcerting his heart from deep inside. There were many unresolved queries in his mind—why am I not like other boys? All boys have an attraction for girls, but why have I for boys? Why do I love tantrums like girls? Why do I use speaking and dressing like girls? These questions have unsettled his heart. He talked to his mother. It was a thousand volts electric shock for her, and for a while, she fainted.

The mother went to the doctor with Deepak and mentioned all his behavior.

On hearing the mother, the Doctor said – Madam, it is not a disease. Deepak’s body and its parts are similar to all other boys, but the mind has girls’ qualities. So he wants to live life like a girl. In simple words, there is a woman in a man’s body.

Deepak’s mother (fearfully) – Is Deepak Hijra?

The doctor said with scolding – Madam, in our language, Deepak is transgender, and it is not a big deal. All transgenders have the right to live their lives with pride and complete freedom.

Now, the mother tried her best to alter Deepak’s habits. She used to tell him – Son, you mustn’t walk like girls. You are a boy, and hence you have to walk like boys. You don’t have to wear girls’ clothes. You have to wear boys’ clothes. Deepak tried his best to follow his mom, but he couldn’t stop his own nature.

One day Deepak came out on the street wearing his sister’s clothes and using his mother’s makeup.

People started to tease him – Hey, chakka has come. See, he is moving like a Hijra.

As soon as the news reached Deepak’s father, he clutched Deepak’s hand and dragged him out of the house and said – You’re a stigma on us. Now, we can’t sit with our community with pride. You have no space in my abode. Get lost. I don’t want to see your wretched-face again.

Deepak (with crying) – Father, where will I go? I am also a life, and more, I am a human. Don’t be rude. Mother, why are you silent? The doctor had told you everything about my condition. Why don’t you explain to dad?

The mother had also turned her face and said – you are a stain for us. Go away from my eyes.

Deepak cried, but no one felt pity for him. Both sisters fought with their parents, but they couldn’t stay in front of the father’s anger. The stony-hearted father closed the door with a wave of great anger. Today, a mother’s motherhood had become ruthless. How happy she was when Deepak was born! Why did she get angry, nobody knows it?

In the entire town, humanity seemed to have vanished. Today, not only Deepak but also the animals and birds echoed their cries. The rain poured relentlessly, as if Mother Earth herself wept, expressing, “I fashioned all beings from the five basic elements—earth, water, fire, air, and space. I never instilled any distinctions; so who are humans to create discrimination?”

Seeing the fragmented-humanity, even the mother-cow tied in the courtyard couldn’t stop her tears. Her tears were visible even in the rain.

Deepak looked at the door for several hours, but no one opened the door. He was thinking about his unanswered query – What is my fault? While thinking this, a fourteen-year-old boy came out of his father’s abode.

Deepak kept wandering here and there for a few days. One day, he suddenly met people like himself. They took him to their community known as Hijra (Kinner or Eunuch). After going there, he got Guru-Diksha (an act of initiation of a third gender person to join the Hijra community. It is a master-disciple tradition in the Hijra community). His name was changed from Deepak to Archana. Now, she started begging like others from the railway and market.

After some time, Archana didn’t like this work. She wanted to read and write further. She had a keen desire to make her dream a reality. It was not easy to do. To realize her dream, she started looking for a job. But nobody hired her since she was a Hijra (Eunuch). Everywhere she was receiving abuse.

Archana wanted to start her further studies under any circumstances. In the end, she started working as a prostitute unwillingly. She had no other option. The job was far from her. Our society had never accepted her identity. This society, which claims about their modernity, is hollow from the inside.

Now Archana earned sufficient money, but there was another problem with the school. No school was willing to admit her. She wandered for entry for several months. Despite being a meritorious student until the tenth standard, she could not get admission in eleventh. The intellect of the teachers was also at war. On the one hand, they were teaching the lesson of equality, and on the other hand, their deeds were supporting inequality.

It is a fact that in every society, there is some pure soul. One day, one such soul of a school-principal met Archana. He turned out to be a guru (teacher) who transformed the darkness of Archana into the light. She got admission to his private school.

The school’s principal said – From today, you are my daughter. Study attentively, and I am available for your help at each moment.

Until the twelfth standard, no one bothers her due to the fear of the principal in the school. However, when she reached college, there were many types of people. They tried their best to hinder her studies.

At every stage of life, people tried breaking her courage. Our hollow-society hatched many cabals to shatter her dreams, but she didn’t stop. At every stage of her life, she fought firmly against society to fulfill her dreams and eventually became a doctor.

Now, she extends her expertise to the transgender community, providing free-of-cost treatment and medication. Additionally, she dedicates herself to educating children. Doctor Archana reflects, “In my childhood, I used to ask myself a question, ‘Who am I?’ Now, I have found the answer, ‘I am Who I am.’ Dear children, knowledge is the way to our salvation. Study attentively, and one day you will be free from all the criticisms of society like Dr. Manobi Bandopadhyay. She has also chosen the path of knowledge and became India’s first transgender college principal.”

Works Cited

1. Attribution to the featured image for this post: Pickering, Victoria. Transgender healthcare rally. Flickr, 16 Aug. 2020, https://www.flickr.com/photos/vpickering/50233510982/. Accessed 27 Nov. 2023.