Back to the Past

Prajakta Hebbar : Tue Nov 13 2012, 02:25 hrs

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/back-to-the-past/1030597/0

Transgender activist Laxmi Tripathi talks about a painful childhood and her recent fame in the book, Mee Hijra, Mee Laxmi

She sits in front of a mirror, careful not to disturb the folds of her sari. Keeping her eyes fixed on her image, she picks up a maroon lipstick and applies it generously on her mouth. She twists her hair into a bun and adds a gajra made of fresh jasmines. Taking a last look at herself, Laxmi Tripathi, a Mumbai-based eunuch, says that she is now ready to share her journey.

Tripathi, now a well-known face on television due to her stint on reality show Bigg Boss, has recently released her biography, Mee Hijra, Mee Laxmi (Manovikas, Rs 200). Written by journalist Vaishali Rode over two-and-a-half years, the book recounts Tripathi's story — from her childhood to her current phase in life.

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The book talks about "the compulsion of wearing masks" in a chapter. "We all wear masks. In my case, it's the extensive make-up I use and the clothes I wear. People don't want to see me in plain clothes and without make-up. They have a mental image in their mind and I am under the constant pressure of living upto it," says Tripathi. Perhaps that explains her words in the book, "Sometimes when you use a mask for too long, it becomes your face."