Hijdas Eunuchs in Mumbai |
 |
| TITLE |
+ |
- |
| FILE NAME |
+ |
- |
| DATE |
+ |
- |
|
|
Shabnam Mausi – 1119 viewsphoto courtesy
http://www.thewe.cc/contents/more/archive/april2003/eunuchfestival.htm
Eunuch MP takes seat
Shabnam Mausi (right) is India's first eunuch MP
India's first eunuch MP has taken a seat in the assembly in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
Forty-year-old Shabnam Mausi, who won a recent by-election in Sohagpur as an independent, took the oath of office in Hindi.
Other members of the assembly in Bhopal thumped their desk in appreciation.
After winning last month, Shabnam declared the victory a reaction against the apathy of leaders and politicians towards people's grievances of the people.
Various eunuch's welfare groups in India have described the victory as a great morale booster.
Observers say the state of Madhya Paradesh appears to be taking a lead in getting eunuchs a more respectable place in a society where they are often feared or ridiculed.
In recent months, five eunuchs have been elected to various civic bodies including a mayor.
Eunuchs, known as "hijras" in Hindi, mostly earn a living by collecting cash gifts from people on occasions like marriages and births.
Groups of hijras dressed in colourful saris with heavy make-up and gaudy jewellery often turn up uninvited at wedding parties and insist on getting generous cash donations.
Traditional belief holds that their presence protects against evil.
There are no official estimates of India's eunuch population, but they are said to number nearly 500,000.
|
|
Moods of a Hijda – 1989 views
|
|
Condom dress – 1258 viewsLaxmi Narayan Tripathi, a transvestite from India, looks at a dress made of condoms by Brazilian artist Adriana Bertini at the International AIDS conference in Toronto August 17, 2006. [Reuters]
|
|
Moods of a Hijda – 1554 views
|
|
Moods of a Hijda – 1489 views
|
|
Trembling Touch – 2221 views
|
|
Transgendered Hope – 1437 views
|
|
Transgendered Blog – 1568 viewsLaxmi is a thought
that gets sweeter
and sweeter
she is hijda goddess
so be careful
how you treat her
come to mumbai
with love in your heart
if you want to meet her
try not to beat her
no fuel to heat her
she is no
ordinary man eater
she loves paul
but also loves peter
love measured
in cybernetic square
centimeter
high lights
sexually molesting
shadows
in a light meter
try not to cheat her
picture shot by afshan shakir
|
|
Hijra Flight of Love – 1695 views
|
|
Eunuchs Hijdas Spirtuality – 1475 viewsTime: 12/24/2005 3:58 AM Visits: 72
The Sandal of The Eunuchs
The person in front carrying the flowers is a Eunuch.. see the eyes, the guy at the back is in a trance..I have already posted his picture.
This is at Dargah of Makhdoom Shah Baba Mahim.
Folks in Mumbai get very scared of Eunuchs at traffic signals some of the muscular manly looking eunuchs can harras the shit out of you , also run away with your wallet when you remove it to pay them..mostly when I see them when they see me .. they touch my feet apply tilak with the dirt from my slippers. This was because the lower strata of the begging Hijda are in awe of holy men,bawas , they take me for one.. which would embarass me no end.
They come to dance bless a new born, highly auspicious, women give them money, sweets even jewellery this is known as Badhai ... they dance to all latest hindi songs. touch the male folks.. there are good ones who adopt a girl child educate her, get her married,..a film was made on a story similar to this called Tamanna the name of the girl child.. the Eunuch from Mahim who bought her up a a made a lady out of her..
At Falkland Road peela house or the notorious cages of Mumbai.red light area they stand all made up if you see them they look better than female actors.. painted red lipsticked lips,I have seen them when I drive pass.
When they get annoyed they curse you in the choicest badwords, the uncouth one lift their sarees expose their private parts, this is a kind of curse, there is a big difference between the eunuchs of yester years , who were called Hijdas, Chakkas, Sixers.
The Hijda of the 21 st century is transformed , he has taken the Avtar of the Metrosexual Hijda, they are made of a very different metal, more gloss, net savvy, travelling from city to city, attending Ads functions all over the country even abroad.
The Hijdas in India have their own composite ethnicity , not found anywhere in the world.
They have their own Gods , Goddesses, Saints, Bawas, they are members of the All India Hijda Sammelan.
Their is a marked difference in the Hijdas of the North theHijdas of the South...the ones in the South closer to Chennai believe in Lord Iravan, celebrate the Koothandavar festival.
The Hijdas of the North pay allegiance to Bhaichura Ma, the rest ofcourse to their patron Saint of the Hijdas , Hazrat Moinuddin Chishty of Ajmer Sharif popularly known as Garib Nawaz.
No Hijda will ever miss the Khwajahs Urus, come what may, this is the Ultimate prilgrimage, they come out as brides lavishing their love,their money everything at the feet of this peaceful Holy Saint.
The Khwajah binds the Hijdas , who mostly stay close to each other at Moti Katra , all differences among the various Khandas marginalised, in the domain of the Khwajah.
This is a an experience of a life time, houses on rentat Moti Katara are already blocked boked by the Hijdas at a very premium, these houses belong to their patron Khadims.. the rents at premium .. The Hijdas you see here , you will see nowhere in the country.. I was here in 2006 for three days , my leg wound troubled me incessantly but I would limp my way into the hearts of those who knew me Basanti, Zeenat, Sohel, Babita Mona, even those nameless ones.
Some wanted togive me a ticket to visit them in Delhi , but I politely refused...
I was in Delhi for Chehlum but could not connect to any one of them.
The Hijdas of Delhi and Mumbai are into big time show biz,, private parties, they are what dreams are made of ... Zia Jaffery who wrote the Invisible will be shocked to see te changes that have evolved in the new Hijda Order...
For me even a single encounter with any Hijda is important to know their story, which they hardly tell but exposes itself through the pictures I take as wordless poetry.
|
|
the Poet and his Muse – 989 viewsBabita and me
|
|
The Mujawir of the Hijda Grave – 928 views
|
|
| 516 files on 43 page(s) |
|
1 | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
