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Me Hijra, Me Laxmi

Additional information

By

Laxminarayan Tripathi, P.G. Joshi, R. Raj Rao

Publisher

Oxford University Press India

Year Published

2015

Language

English

Description

He was born a boy but never felt like one. What was he then? He felt attracted to boys. What did this make him? He loved to dance. But why did others make fun of him?

Battling such emotional turmoil from a very young age, Laxminarayan Tripathi, born in a high-caste Brahman household, felt confused, trapped, and lonely. Slowly, he began wearing women’s clothes. Over time, he became bold and assertive about his real sexual identity. Finally, he found his true self—she was Laxmi, a hijra.

From numerous love affairs to finding solace by dancing in Mumbai’s bars; from being taunted as a homo to being the first Indian hijra to attend the World AIDS Conference in Toronto; from mental and physical abuse to finding a life of grace, dignity, and fame, this autobiography is an extraordinary journey of a hijra who fought against tremendous odds for the recognition of hijras and their rights.

 

ISBN: 9780199458264

 

R. Raj Rao is a writer, poet, and teacher of literature and one of India’s leading gay-rights activists. His 2003 novel, The Boyfriend, is one of the first gay novels to come from India. Rao was one of the first recipients of the newly established QuebecIndia awards. R. Raj Rao is the author of almost a dozen poetry, fiction, plays, biography, and criticism books.
His collection of poems, BomGay, was made into an uncensored short film by the late Riyad Wadia in 1996. Perhaps no other Indian writer’s personal, literary and academic life is steeped in queer culture as much as R. Raj Rao’s.
He is a former Professor and Head of the Department of English at the Savitribai Phule Pune University.
Laxmi (Author), R. Raj Rao (Translator), P.G. Joshi (Translator)
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