00:01Combatore, India. My connection to this story and this place is unique.
00:07My grandfather was born here and now I'm visiting for the first time nearly eight decades later.
00:14Like many places in the subcontinent, it's a city exploring the boundaries of old and new.
00:20But one community in particular is pushing through a complex past and looking towards a transforming future.
00:27They are Hijra, India's ancient transgender community.
00:32We've only just arrived, but my team and I have been invited to a unique celebration.
00:38This is a ceremony of rebirth, a moment of transformation.
00:43It's a welcome into womanhood and a community of like-minded souls.
00:48For one, this party marks the very first time to dress in sari,
00:52a badge of honour and symbol of femininity for nearly all Indian women.
00:58That's why we have a lot of joy in life.
01:03What do you think about that?
01:06That's a thousand people.
01:08That's why we have a lot of joy.
01:11We have a lot of joy.
01:13We have a lot of joy.
01:16We have a lot of joy.
01:26They began their lives as one gender, but have physically transitioned to another.
01:33Dana is one of the estimated two million Hijra in India.
01:38You look so lovely. This colour is amazing on you.
01:55Khusra means something different.
01:58I was born a man and now I'm a woman.
02:02I did a sex change.
02:04So I'm a transsexual woman.
02:06I feel proud to be a transgender.
02:08and I don't think there's something abnormal in me.
02:15In India, Hijra have a recorded history
02:18of more than 4,000 years.
02:20Royal courts held them in high regard,
02:22and sacred Hindu texts describe them
02:24in bright sari and delicate jewelry,
02:27bestowing them with special powers
02:29to bring luck and fertility.
02:30The Hijras are considered to be an incarnation,
02:33another form of Lord Krishna, Lord Shiva and Lord Shakti.
02:38So every new thing that happens, a transgender is there.
02:42These revered Hijra traditions do continue,
02:45and some of Dana's friends have invited us
02:47to see the Hijra offer a blessing.
02:50Newly married couple goes first to a transgender,
02:53get their blessings and start their life.
02:55A newborn baby is first given to a transgender,
02:58and the baby is being blessed.
03:01The community of women greet our arrival
03:03and have put on their nicest saris for the occasion.
03:06I can't wait to see it all.
03:14They do some rituals to bless the child.
03:17At first, the baby isn't as welcoming to his new guest.
03:24But soon he is mesmerized by the magical dance
03:27and song of the Hijra deity.
03:30Good fortune has arrived.
03:36May God bless the child and let the child live for 100 years healthy.
03:40Oh, okay.
03:42Though despite their special place in Indian culture and history,
03:46Hijra have been pushed to the fringes
03:48and have not received the same civil rights as men and women.
03:52The minute the family realizes that this person is not of a regular gender,
03:55they probably beg that human being please leave.
03:58Because it brings shame on the family.
04:00Yeah, shame on the family.
04:01And when you don't have education, you can't work.
04:03That's the reason they are involved in heavy sex trade, heavy prostitution.
04:07Rejected by their families and society,
04:09many turn to prostitution and begging as their only means to survive.
04:13They're refused jobs, ostracized, criminalized and even sexually assaulted on the street.
04:34I never used to behave like a guy.
04:37I used to help my mom in the kitchen, help her in cooking.
04:40Did you feel comfortable talking to your family about the way that you felt?
04:43Well, they didn't accept me. They want me as a son, not as a daughter.
04:47It's been now six years. I'm out of my family altogether.
04:52I was really scared, but I had no choice.
04:55How did you find your courage?
04:57The passion to become a female made my mind strong.
05:01Dana is now trying to put the past behind her and embracing her new identity.
05:06She invited me to stop by her local garment shop,
05:09where the choice of fabric allows women to create their look from a variety of colors and textures.
05:15It was well on the white t-shirt, yeah?
05:17Yeah.
05:19The history of the sari is traced back thousands of years to the western part of India.
05:24The word sari is Sanskrit for strip of cloth.
05:29There seems to be a lot of material.
05:33Who taught you how to do this?
05:35I learned when I saw when my mom was stripping this.
05:38Oh, so she didn't actually show you, you just paid attention?
05:42We're tucking and draping everything around the underskirt.
05:45Yeah.
05:45The garment measures an impressive 15 to 18 feet long,
05:49though there are many recorded ways to drape it.
05:52It's a simple foundation, but for Dana,
05:54a sari was essential to realizing her true self.
05:57When did you finally put your first sari on?
06:00After the sex change.
06:02How did you feel when you saw yourself?
06:04I felt I've done what I was aspiring for.
06:08Really?
06:08I burst out in tears.
06:10Oh, it's beginning to take shape.
06:12Before, yeah, I would be laughed at.
06:15I would be laughed at.
06:17Now that you get to wear a sari,
06:19you have your own sense of style, who Dana really is.
06:22Yeah.
06:27You are the one who was in Europe.
06:28All right, look at me.
06:30Good, everybody.
06:35I'm on the note of a Sari.
06:37I don't know how I put the face on the face on the face.
06:40I don't know how they put things on the face.
06:41I don't have a family.
06:43I don't have any family.
06:44I don't have any family.
06:45You have family here.
06:47Fashion is our most ready means available to us
06:50to express in a visual statement our identity and something as simple as this sari has been
06:58denied to them. These women are so courageous.
07:02It might just be a piece of clothing to some, but to a special group of people it's an identity,
07:08a victory, a new beginning.
07:11I feel very happy because I've undergone so many pain in my life to become like this.
07:16When we are with our community, I feel at home.
