Chased away for their gender, three transmen find success in pushcart eatery

Madurai: A small pushcart eatery started by three transmen at Palanganatham tasted their first profit of Rs 285 on a rainy Thursday. The trio who consider themselves brothers than partners are Jaison Joshua, 28, a BA History graduate, Subin, 25, a general nursing graduate, and Aadhavan, 23, a bachelor of social work graduate who is pursuing a master’s degree.
They got into the business as their degrees did not help them get the right job or a dignified identity due to their gender change, which reflects in the Aadhar card as ‘transman’.
“I underwent gender reassignment surgery in April 2019. I lost support from my parents from then and worked as an electrician, night watchman and a sales representative in a leading retail store. But I was terminated when the employer came to know my gender,” said Jaison, who is the eldest of the three.
Aadhavan did odd jobs like selling vegetables on a pushcart and tea during the lockdown. Subin worked in a brick kiln. Suffering from identity crisis they decided to set up a push cart eatery with Jaison’s wife as chef as she learnt the knack from her father who runs an eatery. When they were running out of money for investment, they got help from Transgender Resources Centre founder Priya Babu, Bhoomi trust and a solar panel firm.
Jaison’s wife marinates the meat to be fried and prepares the soup during the day. After Jaison returns from work – creating awareness on HIV among transgenders – around 5pm, they take the push cart to start business. “We are selling friend chicken with chicken and mutton soup till 8pm as part-time business as we do other jobs during the day. But we plan to include more items and establish it as a brand and full-fledged business soon,” he added.