I met Asma or Rishi as she called herself at Ajmer Station while returning from the Urus 5 years back.. I shot her pictures as the train was late ,and as we were traveling to Mumbai..
She told me of her struggle as a crossdresser as a dancer , and her Muslim parentage , how she overcame all this and worked hard to give her parents a home her brothers a shop and invested wisely ,, but she was headstrong and though there was much opposition from her conservative relatives she did not budge , worked with dignity and I met her accidentally after so many years at Bandra Hill Road,,
Once she and Ritu a hijra had come to my place to meet my family as men , and my wife could not believe they lived another life as women. Ritu is a transgender , but Asma decided not to live or become a hijra .
We spoke of old times and she was wondering what happened to my bulk load of picture on the Hijra community I told her barring a few I had disabled the rest from public view completely ,,I have no regrets ,, the public is not ready for hijras in India sadly the Hijra is nothing but a sexual commodity , and being homophobic the public uses them abuses them and there is no hope for their emancipation or salvation with the anti human law Article 377 hanging over their head as a Damocles Sword,
Asma is a dedicated devotee of Khwajah Garib Nawaz.
