Inclusiveness is the flavour in this food truck

COIMBATORE: Taslima Nasrin, a transgender social worker, has been interested in cooking since her childhood. The activist had a whole new experience on Tuesday as she cooked and served food in a van at a city college campus that too to send across the message that transgender community was very much a part of the society.
Named Trans Pride Food Truck, the vehicle would travel to 10 colleges in the city to break the taboos associated with transgenders, said the student organisers of the initiative.Three people from the transgender community – Taslima Nasrin, Suchithra and Yamini – would run the food truck.
Earlier, colleges had invited Taslima for workshops and to deliver speeches. “But I asked them to give us a chance to prove ourselves. Now that we have been given a chance, students can see our work first hand,” she said. Taslima made sandwiches, burgers, fries and pizzas, which were a huge hit among the students.
“Students will get to know that transgenders too have talent and are capable to do a work if given an opportunity. Students will become leaders and policy makers tomorrow. If they get to know our capability, they will be able to take decisions that would help people from the transgender community,” she added.
Suchithra, also a transgender, said earlier she thought people would make fun of her. “When students interacted with me very friendly, I changed that opinion,” she said. Suchithra, who earlier used to make only Indian dishes, have now learnt to make dishes such as burgers too.
Shakthi Priyadarshini, a student of Kumaraguru College of Technology, which along with Rotary of Coimbatore Central organised the initiative, said they wanted to change the perception of how transgenders see the society and vice versa. “People from the transgender community should think the society is supportive. We also should change our misconceptions about them,” she added.
Members of the Rotary Club of Coimbatore Central said the initiative was a trial run. “If this goes well we will help people from the transgender community start their own food truck startups,” they said.