Nothing but the truth

The night of August 26 is going to be interesting. Enlightening is more like it. After dark clouds of controversies,straight no from celebrities,frightening revelations and nail-biting suspense,Star Plus’s Sach ka Saamna has gained some sound footing,and finally got the ideal candidate for its hot seat – the queen of LGBT parade and gay rights activist Laxmi Narayan Tripathi. And you know what,she’s always loved the truth.

“When you are born a eunuch,life tends to bend towards bitter truths,” Laxmi speaks softly,confident of her choice to be on the show. “I’ve seen the English version,and I was interested. I’ve always lived by the truth,and one thing people are scared of is the truth,” Laxmi’s using this platform to change perceptions,about gays,lesbians,bisexual,transgender,and above all,the hijras. “This was the biggest motivation,and I didn’t find any question embarrassing or controversial for what’s true is true,and I’ve never regretted any decision of mine,” she says. Another motivating factor was to tell the world about her family,her parents who ever gave her up to the eunuch community. “They brought me up along with my brother and sister,educated me,and made me a proud part of the society. And I want to tell the world that here is a family that accepts their child as he or she is,” says Laxmi,a post graduate in Bharatnatyam,a United Nations member and social activist. In fact,she runs her own NGO by the name of Astitva and has done exemplary work in the field of HIV/AIDS. “Hijras fall under the highest affected population,and under the high risk group of HIV/AIDS,” tells Laxmi,still fighting for rights and recognition as part of society. “Society is a complex entity…it will always have double standards,it will always have exceptions like me,and people like Baba Ramdev,” for Laxmi,the discrimination has to end somewhere. “A person like Baba Ramdev claims himself to be a yogi,a religious leader,and has problem with the truth! On the other hand,when people like Celina Jaitley step in to help,her personal and sexual life are ripped apart! It’s ironic….we are the visibles who are treated as invisibles! We don’t even have seats in schools or the right gender box to tick on a form!” says Laxmi.

More than any school or university,life has been an institution,a learning process,and for Laxmi,being a eunuch is what she is. “There’s no shame in that,it’s my identity. While awareness has increased and media has panned their cameras towards us,all I want to say is that we are there too,and we have a right to live freely,with pride,in our country.” Yes you do.

Tune into Star Plus August 26 onwards,Wednesday,Thursday and Friday on Sach ka Saamna to know more.