Transgender place where he has given his

Transgender is a parasol expression, used to describe people with a gender identity and /or gender expressiondifferent to their sex assigned at birth. Transgender individuals havea gender distinctiveness or gender appearance that differs fromtheir assigned sex.

Across the ages transgenders are known with differentname viz., Hijras, eunuchs, Kothis, Aravanis, Jogappas, Shiv-Shakthis etc., Thefirst time in India the population of third gender was counted in Census2011.  As per that census the thirdgender population was 4. 9 lakhs, predominantly this number may not be accurateas most of the parents not willing to accept that their children belong thirdgender. HistoryThe wordtransgender dates back to the age of Ramayana, also we have witnessed theimportance of the transgenders in Mahabharata. In a different version of Ramayanawhen Lord Rama is sent on exile a large crowd of people have followed him intothe deep forest due to their utter devotion towards him, being concerned ontheir well-being Lord Rama had requested stating “ all men and women please returnto your homes in Ayodhya”, however to his astonishment he found all Hijras(transgenders) have not relocated from the place where he has given his lastspeech, deeply touched by their dedication Lord Rama granted a boon that “ TheHijras would be able to give blessings to public during auspicious andinaugural occasions, such as childbirth and marriage”, which is stillcontinuing in the modern world.

InMahabharata we can see Shikhandi whose sole purpose in the story was to end thelife of Bheeshma Pitamaha. Lord Krishna showed that ancient India was much morebroadminded than today by supporting Shikhandi, a transgender.  Lord Krishna was the first person, whosupported Shikhandi’s identity in front of Pitamaha Bheeshma in the midst ofKurukshetra Battlefield. Apart from this, Krishna himself incarnated asMayamohini, Lord Shiva seen as Ardhanarishwara where both considered to be representthe transgenders.   KalkiSubramaniam – Shobha Warrior “ You should never prove people for your right orwrong and should never defeat or demolish them, just take a stand on your part, do your Karma’s, focus on your path and help people who are falling and youwill see that the God will be helping you by raising your level and status inthe society and blessing you in all your work – Bhagwad Geeta KalkiSubramaniam is a writer, journalist, activist and actor, holds two masters: inJournalism & Mass Communication and International Relations and now, she isan entrepreneur. She is also a transgender, in her own words this makes her” India’s first transgender entrepreneur”.

Kalki is the first transgenderactress in the world to perform in a conventional movie in which she portrays thelife of a transgender dancer in the movie, Narthaki. On the professional front, Kalki involves herself in web based projects. She was invited by many organizationsand colleges to deliver lectures in different regions of the country, further shewas also a specially invited  by thegovernments of  Bangkok and United Statesfor the human rights activism which she gained extraordinary foothold andhelped her reach incredible levels of success. Kalki is the first transsexualforeigner to be invited by United States Government to attend a sixteen daysInternational Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) held in Washington DC. Kalkihas busted the status quo for transgenders and has made a revolution of sorts tohelp the transgenders through the world by starting a foundation for thetransgenders called “ Sahodari” which aims for the economic, political andsocial upliftment of transgenders. Sahodari Foundation – Together, we will make a difference Sahodari Foundation is one of the ground-breakingsociety in India which has been working for the welfare of the transgender communitysince 2007. The foundation is a movement, a family, and a team of youngtranssexual people, friends and volunteers.

Foundation work is sustained throughcrowd funding, small donations from friends and well-wishers with which they havedone tremendous work with the available fund resources. Kalki held an artshow with intent to raise funds to help the eligible backed by Fuel ADream, a Bengaluru-based crowd funding platform, she proposes to raise aboutRupees two lakh through the crowd funding platform and  has planned to rope the funds for their higherstudies. SahodariFoundation does not fit itself into a regular organization structure; it works morelike a family of volunteers and members. From 2012, the foundation focused on gettinglegal recognition and canvassed around multiple places in India among the Judiciaryfor legal recognition, whereas in 2016 it has emphasized on education and jobs fortransgenders and in 2017 it concentrated on arts & literature and media fortransgender people in the country. TheFoundation’s main objectives are ·        To promotesocial, political, and economic equity and campaign for civil and legal rightsof Transgender and intersex people.·        To workfor establishing social, economic, and environmental justice for Transgenders, intersex and gender non-confirming people and to eliminate oppression and exclusionbased on such factors as race, ethnicity, gender, class, religion, legalstatus, sexual orientation, age, and disability.·        Toprohibit discrimination based on “ gender identity or expression” and ensurethat the entire range of transgender, intersex and gender non-conforming peopleare protected.

Followingare transgender issues which are worked up by the foundation·        Discrimination·        Employment·        Education·        Homelessness·        HIV Care·        Depression·        HormonePill Abuse·        Tobacco& Alcohol Abuse·        Penectomy·        MarriageAnd Adoption·        Documentation·        Aging·        Female ToMale TGSSocial Activism TRANS/HEARTS is about transgender people creating images and artworks that reflect their lives. TRANS/HEARTS brings art to the transgendercommunity and inspires them to exercise their inventiveness in a free and profuseenvironment. The project offers opportunities to non-binary, genderless, gendernon-conforming, transgender people and gender queer to take part in art andcreativity workshops. Trans-people are invited to explore the beautiful processof crafting images and illustrate their tales in a non-judgmental atmosphere.

These workshops are conducted completely free of cost. Then the art worksare collated and displayed in traveling exhibitions and the proceeds from saleswill go to the artists. Recognizing the gifted artists among the community, encouraging them to practice art, finance their talent, make them asprofessional artists and changing their lives is one of the objectives ofTRANS/HEARTS. WALLS OFKINDNESS is a futuristproject from Sahodari Foundation. Transgender artist’s team visits very remoterural and tribal villages, refurbish the walls of the schools and angawadiswith their artworks, paintings and murals. The objective of the project is (a)to break the stereotype thought process of the people against the transgendersand establish them as positive contributors to the society, (b) involving, interacting and working along with students will break the Trans Phobia andalso develops understanding and acceptance of transgenders among the young and(c) conversion of unpleasant looking walls into beautiful art works will createhigh value, boosts the self-esteem and morale among the transgenders. Conclusion Finally after all these years of educating andcampaigning vigorously throughout state of the Tamilnadu and pan India have bought positive resultsin thinking of government and society, gradually there is a wide acceptance fortransgenders across all walks of life.

Tamilnadu government has introduced “ TransgenderWelfare Board” which is one of kind initiative for transgender people in India. There is a special category for admissions to studies for transgender women inthe state government co-education colleges and some universities have comeforward to even offer free admissions for transgender people. The stategovernment of Tamilnadu has allocated free housing and has formed a panel ofdoctors to provide health care and Sex Reassignment Surgery for transgenders. Thisis not the end for Sahodari Foundation but a beautiful beginning and thefoundation is working continuously in order to reach the less fortunate.