TG

Well, there is another staff/sex worker that I like a lot, and who has made my experience at Aastha Parivaar. Her name is Vasavi and she is transgendered; physiologically born male but psychologically a female. Vasavi was elected President of Aastha Parivaar so is da Boss!

She's tall and has solid features, long hair of course, and doesn't wear much makeup. She doesn't need to; her skin is flawless and I think she is quite pretty. We hit it off right from the get-go (we would totally be friends if we were in the same country) and to be honest I am quite taken with her. She speaks enough English to have a conversation and actually has a BCom degree. She also has a Facebook account :) Now doesn't that just dispel any stereotypes you might have of a sex worker! I just love her personality and mannerisms. She's quite a diva, animated and her facial expressions kill me. Such as her whiny pout when talking about living in the slums, or about my short hair hahaha! She just doesn't understand why I don't have long hair (like the rest of India). Or her OMG gasps of surprise when I tell her something, and high fives when we share something funny.

Vasavi lives in the slums and her home is a 2 hour commute to the office by train, walking and rickshaw. So she doesn't like having to come into the office and actually doesn't like having the job as president as she says it's too much work for her. I bugged her about that, like what else does she have to do but eat, watch soap operas and gossip with her friends? She thought that was funny but I'm not allowed to make those comments on Facebook as she wants to keep the fact that she's lazy on the DL.

She lives with several other transgenders, who are referred to as "TG" and has a Guru, who is also TG and the head of her TG group, like a spiritual leader. I want to learn more about the TG community as I hear it is highly hierarchical and that the TGs do nothing without their Guru's approval. Vasavi described her Guru with much affection, telling me she is like family; like a mother. Her Guru is apparently quite rich from working hard in dance bars and such when she was younger. Vasavi only gives her Guru money once in awhile and describes her as very nice (with the head roll of course) as her Guru doesn't beat her like others do.

Vasavi receives a salary of 9000 rupees every month through her other role within her CBO. She goes to bars on weekends and earns some extra cash through sex work. She told me that TGs earn 100-200 rupees per client ($2-4).

During our time together we talked about how her CBO can earn money which they need in order to support their members (about 50). They have been given 100,000 condoms from Aastha Parivaar which they can sell for 1-2 rupees but they are without a market given there is a NGO in their community giving them out for free. So she wanted me to help her try and find a market for condom sales. Like I would know anything about that! If any of you have any ideas hit me up :)

What was cute was that she told me that the TGs are lazy and don't want to work for a few rupees profit (such as by selling condoms), especially when they can make fast money through sex work. So this is the challenge in her CBO; motivating the members to puruse an enterprise for the benefit of the community and themselves as individuals. She is embarassed that other CBOs are earning way more money than hers.

What is also interesting is that Vasavi is married. She was in a relationship with a man for 4 years until he married another woman. The other wife is not transgendered and the couple are expecting their first child. They live in Gujurat and she only gets to see her husband for a few days every 3 months (which again brought on the pouty face). She and her husband talk on the phone, and she talks with his wife as well (who knows about her) as friends would.

I'm not sure if Vasavi has had surgery. Castration is an option, which according to a newspaper article I just read, Gurus often decide for the TG. The opinion in the paper is that the TG should be the one to make the decision after proper counselling. Geez, no Shit Sherlock! Vasavi told me that her sister (fellow TG) just got breast implants at a cost of 60,000 rupees ($1200). That is every TG's dream to not have to stuff their bra. Vasavi's sister called while we were talking and asked her to pick her up a sports bra. She asked me what a sports bra was and how much it would cost. Just like with the condoms, I was useless to her in this department as well not knowing how much they go for here. Anyway, it would have been fun to go bra shopping with her!

You may be wondering why Vasavi is still doing sex work with a BCom degree. Well, as in other countries transgendered people sadly are quite discriminated against and find it pretty impossible to find employment, often forcing them into sex work. I saw in the newspaper a couple months back that the government has passed some type of Bill to hire TGs as a special group. I'm not sure how that will translate to the general TG population, but thankfully at least Vasavi is doing quite well for herself given her involvement and role with Aastha Parivaar. We'll see how long she hangs in with the president role though and whether the laziness will win.