Meri zindagi mein koi love story nahin hai

Eunuch and gay rights activist Lakshmi Narayan Tripathi says that she was born with the sexuality she has, and that she has no reason to fear anyone..
Laxmi Narayan Tripathi is one of the organisers of a first-of-its-kind beauty pageant - for transgenders. India Super Queen, with Celina Jaitley among its judges, ended last month after rounds of auditions across multiple cities. And Laxmi, a transsexual and gay rights activist, is proud of the contest and what she’s achieved for the community. “The contest was a great success and we hope to carry it forward. We’d like the next edition to be much bigger.” She also plans to build up a network of transgenders in India. “I’m already the representative of the Asia Pacific transgender network in the UN. I plan to organise a similar network in India,” she says. “I feel that the participants of the contest have built up their confidence, and we’d like them to be part of mainstream fashion weeks.”
But moving on to her perosnal story, Laxmi says, “Bachpan se log mujhe Laxmi hi kehte hain, kyunki logon ko Narayan ya Tripathi ke gun dikhayi nahin diye.”
Does she think that the image people have of hijras is any different from their image of the LGBT community in general? “At times, I get offended by the image created of me. Our community has been in existence for more than 252 years. Aaj hamari community se agar do jan bhi beauty contest mein participate karein aur stage pe chalein na, that is success to me. I can proudly say that at least people had the guts to come out despite social constraints. I feel its time that I do something for my community and remove the misconceptions that people have.”
Talking about the contest, she says, “It’s a great start. The contest is not about beauty, but more to create awareness about our community and help them make their mark. This is just the beginning. All transgenders want to be part of the mainstream have the right to be loved and accepted. Hum nahin chahte ki hijron ke special hospital, special school hon. Jo system hai, usme mujhe dalo. India is the biggest democracy in the world. It also has the highest population of hijras - what has the government do for us?” She answers her own question, “Kyunki aaj hum unke vote bank nahin hai.”
Was she always this fearless, or was there ever a point when she was unsure about revealing her sexuality? “Darun kis ke liye? Paida hui hun aise. On a show, they asked me, don’t you feel embarrassed that you were born into a Brahmin family, and I replied, ‘Log kehte hain ki Brahmin khandaan se ho, aap hijron mein kaise chali gayi, toh kya sharam hai usmein? Bheekh mangke Brahmin bhi khaate hain aur bheekh mangke hijre bhi khaate hain, ab aage bolo’,” she says emphatically, slapping her hands together.
Has she any plans to join Bollywood? Laxmi replies, “I started my career as a bar dancer, and then became a model coordinator. Maine sab kuch kar liya apni zindagi mein. Ab agar movie ka chance aayega to woh bhi kar loongi. But there will be no hero in the movie. Hijron ka film hoga. And it certainly won’t be a love story! Meri zindagi mein koi love story nahin hai toh film mein bhi koi love story nahin hogi. Producer ko bolo ki agar hero rahega toh main kaam hi nahin karungi.”
Ask her what’s new, and she laughs uproariously and says cheekily, “Lakshmi ka Swayamvar!” She adds, “Can you trust men? I can’t. There was a very good friend of mine who proposed to me. I told him that we should only be friends. I’ve always believed that men are flirtatious by nature and cannot be honest. I hate dishonesty.”
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