"I know it is going to be a boy," said Jagan.
"No, it's going to be a girl, see my tummy is so big. My mom has told me that if the tummy is big then it will be a girl" argued Saranya.
"Hear my logic. In both our families, the first child has been a boy, for my parents I am the first child and for your parents, Suresh is first so it will be a boy only" said Jagan
"Anyways, be it a boy or a girl, we will bring it up like a prince or a princess. It should not go through any of the hardships that we have gone through in life," saying this she shifted on the bed and put her arms around Jagan's chest and closed her eyes.
In a couple of hours, Jagan heard Saranya moaning in pain. He understood that it is time and carried her to the car and hit the road. While holding the steering in one hand, he took his phone with the other and called his Doctor, "Doctor, Saranya got her labor pain, I am bringing her to the hospital."
He turned around assured Saranya that the doctor is there at the hospital and that she will be fine. Saranya smiled and said, "See, it's going to be a girl"
"Yes baby, it is going to be a girl and both of you are going to be okay," said Jagan with tears rolling down his cheeks. He looked at the clock in the car's dashboard, it showed 11:47 PM.
2 hours past and all he could see were the nurses walking in and out of the labor ward. He inquired frantically, every time someone came out of the room.
He heard the strike of a clock 2 times at a distance, the room door opened again and the doctor came out and said, "It's a boy"
Jagan cried, thanked the doctor profusely and asked if he can see his wife now. The doctor said he can see the baby in 5 mins, but he can see his wife only after she is shifted to their private room.
"Prince has arrived" Jagan immediately changed his Whatsapp status and also updated the same on facebook. He typed a rather lengthy message and sent it to both their parents. It was happiness overwhelming.
"Prathap means bravery, my son will be as brave as Bhagat Singh, so that is what I want to name him," said Jagan
"No, my son will be a dancer so I want to name him Vineeth, like the great classical dancer and Malayalam movie star" argued Saranya
Finally, they decided on writing both the names in small sheets of paper and keep it near the baby, whichever he touches first will be his name.
They both were very curious for about 5 mins till Prathap chose his name. Jagan screamed in joy while Saranya was visibly upset but playfully punched Jagan and said "Its okay, since he has chosen the name himself, let it be, but he will be completely Momma's boy, I'll get him trained in all forms of dance and make him a dancer like Vineeth"
"It is quite natural that a son will be more attached to his mom than the dad" surrendered Jagan understanding that this is the second disappointment for Saranya and wanted to comfort her in every way possible but sometimes the chauvinistic him overtakes the rational him.
It was Prathap's 1st birthday so his parents had organized a grand celebration. Prathap was dressed up in a blue jean, red tee, and a denim jacket. His green eyes made him look no less than a model. After the cake cutting, Jagan took to the dais to deliver a quick speech in which he said, "Exactly one year back from today, at the hospital, the doctor came out of the labour room and told that we are blessed with a baby boy, I asked the doctor if I can see my wife first because it is her who has always been there by my side and for any celebration, I need her by my side. Noth just then but all through my life. The love for her has just been growing with days and has not reduced a bit but little did I realize that a little boy will arrive in our life and take away all the attention that I get from my wife. I envy Prathap that way. He gets more kisses than me" the crowd bursted out laughing, Jagan continued "but Prathap is no just our son, he is everything in life for us. We both are committed to giving him every best thing in life and we are sure he is going to make us proud one day" he saw Saranya's eyes welling with tears so he walked up to her, wrapped her in his arms and kissed her on her forehead. She kissed Prathap.
Prathap grew like a prince. When it was his second birthday Saranya was pregnant again and later she delivered a girl baby, much to the joy of Saranya and ofcourse Jagan too. They named the girl Pranaya.
Prathap is 5 years and Pranaya is barely 2.5 years when Saranya took them both to Natyalaya and got them both enrolled for Bharatanatyam classes. Both of them grew up to be great dancers and Prathap was 10 years when he made his first stage appearance. It was his Arangetram, but it was Saranya who was more nervous and excited. Her eyes welled up and tears rolled down her cheeks when Prathap came on stage along with his partner Kaushik. It was a Radhe Kalyanam performance where Kaushik was Krishna and Prathap was chosen to be Radhe because the role of Radhe demanded an expressive eyes and body postures which Prathap pulled off with so much ease.
Prathap and Pranaya went to a school where children from the high society studied. It was an expensive affair for Jagan, but he somehow managed by optimizing expenses.
It was only happiness and moments of pride for Jagan and Saranya until this day. It was sports day at the school. While Prathap has always stolen the annual day celebrations, he has never participated in any sports. This is the first time he is participating in running a race and sure enough his parents are there to cheer their loving son.
The race began, Prathap was standing third in the row and when the whistle blow, it was a moment of embarrassment for the proud parents. The embarrassment was not just because Prathap was running last in the race but also because the entire crowd was laughing at Prathap, they were amused by the way he was running. Slow and with a hip movement was feminine.
"Bharathanatyam has influenced him so much that his every act has become feminine" Jagan fumed. "Stop crying, it's not a big deal, let us stop his dance classes, he will be alright" They never knew until this day that Prathap is the biggest bully in the school.
2 more years passed, Prathap wasn't practicing Bharatanatyam anymore, but his feministic actions have only grown from bad to worst. Jagan went around inquiring about this to many sexologists while Saranya kept praying to all the gods being unbiased of the religion.
Another 3 years passed with all the prayers and the doctor consultations. Pranaya doesn't talk to Prathap anymore. He has become an embarrassment for her at school. While there are different kinds of emotions that Jagan and Saranya had to deal with, from their daughter, his friends, teachers, relatives, society, etc. Prathap had completely transformed into a girl.
Prathap is 16 years now, he has grown up. It is not his mistake that he has become a transgender, it is genetic and in some of the cases, it is environmental too. He is well past the age to understand the bullies now. He understands the embarrassment that his parents are going through. He understands the kind of embarrassment that Pranaya, his loving sister is being put through because of him. He knows that he is responsible for all this and has to put an end to all their embarrassment.
It was a Saturday morning. No school for the kids and no work for Jagan. Saranya got up from her bed and went to the kitchen to prepare coffee for Jagan and wake him up. While on her way to their bedroom with the coffee cup in hand, she peeked into the kids room casually to find Pranaya sleeping peacefully but a sheet of paper lying on Prathap's bed.
The white paper just read, "Sorry momma, sorry dadda for all the embarrassment you had to live with. Pranaya Kutty, you are a queen and has to live the life of a queen, I will not be a hindrance to your any longer. Long Live my darling sister."
Jagan rushed to the police station and file a complaint. Called all his friends and relatives to inquire. Saranya looked completely broken. It took close to a month for them to accept the reality as it is and carry on with their regular work. Pranaya, though relieved of the fact that she will not have to put up with the embarrassment anymore, looked visibly upset for the fact that she has lost her only sibling.
On the night Prathap left his house, he got himself dressed in his favorite clothing, momma's salwar kameez and went to bed but did not sleep. After ensuring that Pranaya had slept, he peeped into his parents room to confirm that they were sleeping too, went to the kitchen and stole some money from where he knew Saranya will hide and stepped out of the house carefully, without making any noise.
It was 11 PM when he reached the railway station. There was a train departing to Bangalore in the next few mins. He took a reservation form and filled it up quickly and went to the counter to buy her ticket. The middle-aged guy at the counter could not read Prathap's handwriting so looked up at him and asked "What is your name?", "Prathiba", came the answer.
She found a place between 2 seats and laid down there. Her usual bedtime is 10 PM since it was already late, she slept immediately. She was fast asleep when she felt someone scratching her legs, she woke up to see an elderly guy waking her up and asking her to follow him. She was scared but also innocent enough to have not understood his wrong intentions. He walked into the toilet and signalled her to follow him, she now understood and ran from there with tears rolling from her eyes. Luckily, on the other side of the compartment, there were a group of eunuchs who saw Prathiba and understood the situation. One of them found the man and started beating him. The entire compartment woke up to witness the drama, but none came to the rescue of the man, such was the fear for this group.
Next day morning when they reached Bangalore, Jyothi the elderly one in the eunuch's group asked Prathiba to go with them. Having no place to go she went with them. They were all living in 1 BHK house. about 7 of them staying in the house with Prathiba joining as the 8th.
By around 11'o clock, they were all ready to head out. Jyothi took Prathiba along with her. Prathiba had no clue as to where they were going and what are they going to do. Jyothi was very caring and considerate, she never asked Prathiba about her past, she has seen enough of these people and knew that it is more important to keep them comfortable than hurting them by talking about their past. They are a group of people who have dreamt about a beautiful life of a woman but this society only exploited them and most of them were used only as sex servants. They had to give in to some perverts' desires just to make a few bucks that are sufficient to buy them a meal.
They all reached the majestic bus stand and from there they split into 4 pairs. Jyothi and Prathiba took a bus to BTM Layout, the conductor did not issue them a ticket, after they got down at a signal in BTM Layout, they went inside a bar. "I don't drink Akka" said Prathiba. Jyothi just smiled and approached a table that was already occupied and said "Kodu" and the group handed a Rs.100 note and one of the drunk guys in the group gave her a pinch in the hip. Another guy reached out to Prathiba cheeks, but she ran outside the bar weeping.
Jyothi followed her, caringly held her by her shoulders and said "There is no way we can live a dignified life. Wherever you go, people will only try to exploit. I never asked you about your past life but whatever story you have, trust me, there is a worse story that we have heard. The society looks at you only as a piece of meat that they can savor upon. You were addressed a 'him', you wanted to be addressed as 'her' but the society will forever address you only as 'it'. That's the reality and you need to understand that. The only way you can save your dignity and continue to live, ofcourse by digesting all the physical and mental humiliations that will we go through every day, is by making this form of ours an advantage for us. It is better to allow someone to touch us than ruin us. You will be uncomfortable doing this initially and I will not force you to do it until you become comfortable, but eventually you will understand that we are left with no better option than this."
Prathiba looked at Jyothi understandingly, wiped her tears, walked up to the pan shop that was outside the bar and said "Kodu", the guy gave her a Rs.20 note, her first ever earning.
Jyothi walked up to the shop keeper and said "enappa, aivathu kodo" the guy gave another Rs.30. Jyothi and Prathiba heartily laughed at it while their heart was burning with rage.
