Ratna Akhtar feels a stronger urge to look better every time she gazes at the picture. The need remains unfulfilled despite receiving only a few hundred pounds from kind-hearted commuters on local trains, regional business shop owners, and young couples on the beaches, even though they offer them every day. Transgender people like Akhtar may then have the opportunity to not only improve their personal appearance but also that of others thanks to the abdominal initiative launched by the Shagun Gupta Foundation.
Amidst the Maharashtra government’s recent announcement of a comprehensive policy for the transgender community, the initiative – meant to train trans persons as beauticians, hairdressers, eyelash extension technicians, and permanent makeup experts – spells hope. Transgender people need a chance, too. I saw the need to train some of them in the beauty development industry during a program with the group two years ago. The force behind the Foundation, Shagun Gupta, describes herself as an “anti-aging, cosmetic beauty, and sub-pigmentation expert” because the beauty industry will only flourish and offer opportunities for transgender people.
Gupta suggests that the state should enlist experts in this field to conduct the training programs for transgender individuals working from her large salon-cum-office near Metro Cinema in South Mumbai. “The government’s intention to provide expertise training to transgender people sounds promising, but it’s easier said than done. Unless you involve professionals with years of experience, the endeavor may fail,” she warns.
The public’s support already limits her own program to teach transgender people. Gupta has reached out to Shreegauri Sawant, the first transgender person to petition the Supreme Court for the adoption rights of transgender people, to ensure that it does not fail. In the 2014 National Legal Services Authority vs. Union of India case, Sawant’s appeal in the apex court designated trans as the third gender.
“I am pleased the Shagun Gupta Foundation wants to help transgender people. However, just one person or organization may not meet the needs of the roughly 4000 transgender people who have registered with us. According to Sawant, the mind of the Sakhi Char Chowghi Trust and the owner of Aajicha Ghar, an implementation center,” the authorities will have to put what it proposes on paper into practice.”
Working with Sawant, Mona Hingamere believes that only when attitudes change does the population benefit from government measures. “Let’s say there are numerous trans people who receive training as stylists or beauticians. How will trans people survive if they don’t hire them, and people don’t patronize the salons that are run by trans people?” says Hingamere. Yet if I have a female body, women treat me as though I’m a man at the women’s loo. Transgender understanding must be practiced in mainstream society, she claims.
Trans advocate Zainab Patel established a trans shop in Prabhadevi and a trans shop in Versova to mainstream and empower transgender people. To open their personal salons or beauty centers, Patel says, “Trans people who are trained as salon and permanent makeup professionals need lending money.” “Their contribution to business in India needs to be increased,” she signs off.
