The Ladyboys of Mumbai

The Ladyboys of Mumbai, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

The ladyboys of Mumbai are a nocturnal race , they are birds of the night..they are a rare exotic breed of young teenagers , who have come to terms with their sexuality, an effeminate one which their parents may not be aware of..they dont have the freedom and acceptance as the kathoeys of Thailand.

Most of the ones I met are in fashion, cosmetics, and hairstyling and make up..

Because of the draconian law Article 377 and a police and society influenced homophobic hate most of these denizens have sad and bitter stories to tell of their gay survival..

The ladyboys of Mumbai , some whom I know are not willing to become Hijras , they dont have the mental infrastructure or the hardiness of the hijra , above all the stigma of becoming a hijra.

I am writing this without any aid or prompting , I am writing this as a photographer who captured them on the soul of a digital memory card .

I have a very close friend a Muslim ladyboy, , he was raped by his uncle when very young, later his sufferings continued , he was not spared at school too.. only because he was fair, cute and looked walked talked like a girl.

Today he is an established name as a dancer , does private shows , has several boy friends , his family is conservative and have finally realized he has given them the comforts of a much better life, the new flat in up market Lokhandwalla was bought by him,he had his brothers married, he has another flat given on rent in the distant suburbs and a shop too.

His uncle lives in penury..and what happened does not matter does it?


We keep in touch, I always inquire about him, he is a devotee of Khwajah Gharib Nawaz the Holy Saint of Ajmer ..now if you call his malady a disease than the first person to infect him with the poison was his uncle who gagged him and sodomized him when his family was away..he has not forgotten that and weeps each time he talks of this persecution ..this assault on his body and soul.

But all this has made him far too bitter , he betrays his lovers, he cheats on them, he mocks them, and is playing a vicious game that will hurt him one day..but he will not desist he wants to get even with his guilt and his nightmare of a past.

So this one of a case, the ladyboys have their own network, their own slang, their own code of silence, their own patrons and clientele.

There are touts, pimps who get them business ..and these same tours also snare young kids to keep up the supply for a demand that is skyrocketing I am told.


I have met ladyboys from affluent homes in the lobby of 5 star hotels , who have pleaded with me not to take pictures and I have respected their privacy..

I am not invited to their parties simply because I am a photographer , and they know I post my pictures on the internet..my best friend who invited such a coterie on his birthday has stopped inviting me too.. there is too much at stake and the shock of being publicly known as a gay person.

Most of the guys who attribute to the taste in ladyboys are very happily married men with children and nobody knows it, money pays for silence.


A lot of the ladyboys have been blackmailed by rogue cops, by gigolos , by toy boys..and are very wary and scared of encounters with strangers , but than a fling with a stranger adds to the variety where all this is illegal in the eyes of the law.

Most of the ladyboys held trance parties at private cottages in Madh Island , invitation by request.at a hefty price.

The ladyboys are well groomed , they have gone for cosmetic surgery , to enhance their beauty..the sex change requires loads of money , hence the ladyboys save up..most of the rich ones go abroad .

The ladyboys prefer Haji Malang Dargah as it is close to Mumbai..here they walk the streets without fear or shame.

What hit the ladyboys great dancers was the blanket ban on Ladies Bar in Maharashtra.. the ladies bar put them in the limelight and bought in rich patronage.

Some ladyboys are professional masseurs connected to the best of hotels and clubs..


I met a few of them in Bangalore too..but they too were not willing to talk or be photographed.


More than the ladyboys it is the young studs who hound them , guys absolute hulks , who stalk them , pursue them as the ladyboy is more tame than the hijra, the hijra is over possessive dangerous about whom she loves ..Hell hath no fury than a spurned Hijra..?

And the guy who was begging on the street with acid thrown on his face would not tell me more about his disastrous love affair?

So this is a bit about the ladyboy..of Mumbai...