...screamed Johnny Lever, about 12-13 times in the entire movie, leaving the audience in the theatre in splits each time.
It was 2001 and the movie was Nayak. Johnny Lever, being the great that he is, ensured laughs came through in the otherwise heavy movie. His character was scripted to yell out "Kya bey chakke" as a reflex action each time someone poked a finger at him. For those who do not know the Hindi term, it is loosely used to refer to the members of the transgender community.
Back then, the term "chakka" was often used in a derogatory way, often used to mock/insult someone. While we all laughed our hearts out each time Johnny Lever screamed that line, over 20 years later, I realized how inappropriate it was – to consider it funny, to accept the usage of the word ( as an insult or otherwise ), to be insensitive towards the non-binary gender.
I recalled this movie and Johnny Lever's character while listening to Kalki Subramaniam a while back, during the webinar hosted by my employer as part of the #PRIDE month initiatives. Kalki is a transgender rights activist, among other things. While she had a lot of things to share, here are a few:
- at the age of 12-13 there was intense trauma between my authentic self and my physical self
- was born as a boy & came out at 13 and the family could not understand
- told mom I wanted to grow up as a woman & eventually the family accepted
- family acceptance was of most important
- Most trans people are begging because they have been abandoned by their family
- some land up in sex work due to exploitation
- faced a lot of bullying and shaming throughout, especially in college.
- In the Mahabharata, Arjun was a trans for 1 year -taught martial arts and dance to a prince
- the presence of trans members in Mahabaratha/Ramayana and other mythology shows we were always a part of the society
- joined an IT firm and saved money for my gender transition.
- I feel I was privileged as I was accepted by family and was independent
- we have a lot of anger built up but I channeled the anger I had within into art/creativity – to make a change, you need to be the change
- role model is Sridevi
- love writing poetry
- corporates need to ensure they develop a safe environment for trans coworkers
- treat us as fellow-human, fellow-employee and not a transgender
- people still comment about my voice, not realizing I like the way I sound
- people say I don’t look like a transgender and look like a real woman – it is stereotyping and not a compliment
My takeaway - If they are not unkind to you, there is no reason to be unkind to them or dislike them. They deserve to be treated as you would like to be treated by others!
