"Hijras”, a term used to describe Eunuchs, cross dressers and transgenders are since 2014 officially recognized as the third gender in India. Hijras live as tight-knit communities and references to them date back to several thousand years. For time immemorial they were revered and have also held influential positions during the Mogul courts and respected as spiritual figures in the Hindu society. All this however changed within a few decades under the British Rule when the western attitudes prevailing at the time described them as the “vilest and most polluted being”. Today Hijras still draw a lingering respect for being auspicious but at the same time are being shunned by society at large.
This was one of my long term projects on Hijras. Full text and additional images are available for magazine and online articles.