Voices from the Heteronormative World: A Study of Queer Experiences in the Autobiographies of Laxmi Narayan Tripathi and Manobi Bandyopadhyay

Abstract

For the voiceless and oppressed, writing their lives in their own words is a most empowering and self-representative act. It is especially important for transgender and hijra people, who were long ignored or misunderstood, writing their biographies enabled them to share their experience with the world. This study focuses on the two Indian trans-women who choose to write about their lives. Me Hijra, Me Laxmi (2015) is a life account of transgender rights campaigner Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, who wrote the narrative in Marathi. It was translated by R. Raj Rao and P. G. Joshi. A Gift of Goddess Lakshmi: A Candid biography of India’s First Transgender Principal (2017) is about Manobi Bandyopadhyay, who recounts her life with the help of a journalist Jhimli Mukherjee Pandey. Both women, assigned male at birth, embraced womanhood. Yet, they both struggled to do so in a society that resisted their choices and questioned their gender identity. Tripathi and Bandyopadhyay were both shaped by their families, caste, religion, and social norms, which have been long associated with the status of hijras. Nevertheless, the two women choose different paths in their quests for social acceptance. Tripathi found a new home in the guru-chela (master-disciple) system and later became an activist, while Bandyopadhyay pursued an academic career, eventually becoming the first transgender principal in West Bengal. The study briefly discusses how the experiences of transgender women can be seen within the context of Indian history and society. This study offers a comparative reading of these two autobiographies and examines how each writer develops a sense of self while facing family rejection, social prejudice, discrimination, and a legal system that did not formally recognize their identities for much of their lives.