Transgenders are gradually beginning to make their presence felt in every field in India and the latest among them is the circle of authors in India. One transgender from Coimbatore battled many odds before she could finally publish her book and joined the handful of transgender authors in India – who can all be counted on one hand – with a published book.
Rathi Punithavathiyar has come a long way from her penniless days of begging, when she was first forced out of home at the age of 14. She recently launched her book, Paadhai or Footsteps, which tells stories of the struggles of transgenders.
“When I turned 14, I realised the changes in my body and I yearned to become a lady. But my family members did not understand me and I had to leave home,” said Rathi in an interview with the Times of India. With no one to support her at that young age, life wasn’t exactly a bed of roses.
“I was unaware of many things as my parents had taken really good care of me. I was forced to do things that I was uncomfortable with, including begging,” she said.
But influenced by the several achievers in her community, including Padmini who became the first transgender news reader, Kalki, an author and several becoming doctors, she decided to do what she liked the most – write.
Though she studied only till Class 10, she said she was confident that she could author a book. “Finding a publisher was the most difficult task,” said Rathi.
After several months of hardship, she finally got the book published. It would be available to the public from January. “This book is the first part and I am working on the second part as well, which would be published by March. Telling the stories of transgenders gives me extreme happiness. I hope that one day society would treat us equally,” she said.
Image Courtesy: BCCL
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