Most make a living by singing and dancing or by begging and prostitution. However, Padmini Prakash has become India's first transgender to anchor a daily television news show and she has been grabbing attention in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
Since 15 August - India's
Independence Day - Padmini appears every evening at 19:00 to present a news
show on the Tamil-language Lotus TV based in the city of Coimbatore. And she is thrilled with her new job - not only
because she is on air at prime time, but also because it is making a world of
difference to her and her community. "I am so happy. The message has gone
all over India and the internet," she says.
'Troubled life'
Padmini's life has not been
very different from others in her community. "I had a troubled
childhood," she says.
Disowned by her family when
she was 13, she left home and attempted suicide, but was saved by some people.
"After leaving home, I
travelled all over. I enrolled into an undergraduate programme in commerce
through distance education, but I had financial problems so I dropped out after
two years," she says. But, she was not disillusioned. "I learnt
Bharatnatyam [classical Indian dance form]. I took part in transgender beauty
contests and won them. I then acted in a television serial."
Lotus TV says the idea of
hiring a transgender anchor was proposed by programme executives Sangeeth Kumar
and Saravana Ramakumar.
The two men were returning
home after work a few months ago when they came across some transgender people
being treated badly. They felt the negative social attitudes had to change and
discussed it with their management.
"Our chairman GK Selva
Kumar accepted our idea to give an opportunity to a transgender to be a news
presenter," Mr Kumar said.
Padmini's name for the job
was suggested by Rose, India's first transgender to host a talk show on TV.
"I recommended her name to the network when they contacted me," says
Rose. "Padmini is doing a very good job and she has been well
received," she adds.
"We got in touch with
Rose who introduced us to Padmini. She was well aware of news and we gave her
two months of voice modulation training," said Mr Ramakumar.
He denies that appointing a
transgender news anchor is "a stunt to increase the channel's TRP" -
television rating points. "This is done only to give transgender people
respect in society," he says.
'Nice performance'
The move has been welcomed
by campaigners.
"Padmini's assignment
carries a message about this neglected community. Since they are not socially
acceptable, they cannot display their talent. Such is the situation today that
some of them are in the sex trade or forced to beg on the streets," says
Coimbatore-based activist Anjali Ajeeth.
Akkai Padmashali of
Sangama, a group fighting for the rights of sexual minorities in the southern
city of Bangalore says: "It's a good move. For the first time, there is an
effort to bring trans-genders into the mainstream. There are very few right now
in mainstream professions."
The audiences too seem to
approve of Padmini.
"Her performance is
really nice. She not only looks like a woman but her voice modulation, her
pronunciation and her over all presentation is very good," homoeopathic
doctor U Sreekumar told the BBC.
"Honestly, I could not
find any difference between her and any other woman anchor on other television
channels,"' said housewife Vaijanthi.
Padmini says she is happy
that she is finally being "recognised".
"People look at me
with some respect now," she says.
"I am really so happy.
More such opportunities should be given to other transgenders too. The social
taboo should go," she adds.
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