Trans women beat Covid-19 blues to learn folk art

Till a few months ago, a group of trans women would visit shops in the ‘Pearl City’ of Thoothukudi asking for money to eke out a living. But Covid-19 pandemic changed their lives upside down, for good.

Today, these 15 trans women have come together to launch Sahi Kalai Kuzhu, the country’s first trans women group that specializes in folk art, after having learnt parai aattam, karagaattam, oyilaatam, and poikaal kuthirai in just a few months.

The dramatic change in their lives came when they met M Sankar, who works as an Assistant Professor with VOC College in Thoothukudi, when they went to receive provisions and rice after having lost their livelihood at an event.

Sankar, who is a trained artist himself and runs Saha Kalai Kuzhu, volunteered to help the trans women earn a living by teaching them folk art.

His students not just learned the art quickly but became professionals within no time that they have already begun performing at events, some of which were broadcast live. The brand-new art group also stood first in parai aattam, a dance-play performance by beating the hand-held drums, in a virtual competition recently.

In May, when Sankar began training, there were 20 trans women but five of them opted out in the middle. The remaining 15 are undergoing rigorous training for nearly three hours every day since May at a playground in Tsunami colony in Thoothukudi, 610 km from here.

“I am training them everyday in the afternoon. They (trans women) found it difficult in the beginning, but they adapted sooner than later. Within months, they came to the level of performing oyilaatam for half an hour on their own. The intention is to provide them an avenue to empower themselves and to ensure they do not go back to begging,” Sankar told DH.

“They (trans women) can get opportunities to teach folk art to children in schools which lay stress on extra-curricular activities. Efforts are also on to get them with the Department of Art and Culture so that they get opportunities to perform at government events. They are being taught other forms of art now,” Sankar added.

Bhoomika, a transwoman trained by Sankar, told DH: “We were always interested in learning art. But the doors never opened for us. When Sankar offered to train us, we were more than willing to learn. We are not just artists today, but confident women too. The folk art that we have learnt will make us financially independent sooner than later.”

Teaching the art alone was not enough, Sankar knew and that is why he helped the trans women launch Sahi Kalai Kuzhu and ensured that they got a chance to perform.

“They have done six performances so far. They will get more opportunities as folk art is much loved in rural areas and preferred during religious festivals. They have parai (drums) and other instruments that they need for performing. I ensured they bought them on their own so that they have a sense of belonging,” a smiling Sankar said.

Aarthi, also part of the Sahi Kalai Kuzhu, said offers to perform give them renewed confidence about life. “When we won the first prize in parai aattam, our happiness knew no bounds. That achievement gave us confidence that we can be successful in life,” she said.

But Sankar will not stop at this. He has thrown up a challenge to Sahi Kalai Kuzhu. “Once I finish training the trans women, I have decided to train a group of physically-challenged people in folk arts. Life becomes interesting only when there is a challenge. They will have a competitor in the new set of people I will train,” he said.