Transgendered People Traveling in India: What to Expect?

anna paradox

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your comments! I'm leaving for India next week, i've just started a new job which means instead of preparing for my trip i'm walking around a strange company calling everyone by wrong names.

Welcome to IM Teddycook, it's really great to see another transgendered person here. I know exactly what you mean about your hopes of being able to pass. I still remember my first few weeks on hormones, oh what seems like millions of years ago when I had no chance of ever being able to pass, how suddenly I felt I wasn't a part of society anymore but just an outsider looking in. I was surprised how cruel and blunt some people could be which fuelled my survival to pass as female even more. How it was funny that men who used to laugh at me in the beginning (at work) were later trying to date me and I was the one who could laugh at them. The best thing about hormones for FtM is that you will notice effects almost immediately, I think your voice will deepen within a couple of days.

Teddycook, if you have any questions about India or being TG then please feel welcome to send me a private message or just ask in this thread. I will update when i'm in India so that other TG know what to expect.

My plans have yet took another turn and have been invited to stay at a friends family home in a tiny village in the Punjab, about as rural as you can get I imagine. I wonder how the villagers will accept me, oh well, lifes an adventure and how I love to throw myself in at the deep end

Haydn, I've just googled Aidsutra so will try and get a copy to read on the plane, thanks for the tip!

Anna

nthGlas_Scotland

I hope India showers you and your boyfriend with MANY blessings Anna!
And a welcome to Teddy also.

anna paradox

Hi everyone,

I just got back from India a couple of days ago. My initial reaction in the back of a taxi from the airport to the hotel was "why the hell did I come to India?" but slowly India revealed itself like a beautiful book, page by page, and in the end I had fell in love with this country and it's colourful characters.

If you are transgender and thinking about travelling to India then you don't have to worry about anything. Unlike Europe there are moments when India demands that you be one gender, for instance when going into New Delhi metro there are security checks, one side for male, the other female. I was always clearly defined as being female (wearing dresses etc), the female officers who done security checks on me never batted an eyelid once.

When I arrived in India the serious looking immigration official asked me how to pronounce my name, which I did and then it was the only time I had saw him smile and he wished me a good vacation. Maybe he noticed the M on my passport and wanted to be sure I really was the same person.

India was beautiful and crazy, i'll never forget wandering around the dark alleyways of Vrindavan and seeing 4 women in red veils, the jewels of their dresses sparkling in the moonlight. They whispered for us to follow them which we did, they took us to a temple where they danced almost into a trance like state, I realised they were hijra (transgender).

Another time when leaving Purana Qila in Delhi we met a bunch of hijra, they were very well mannered and somehow could read that I was transgender, I was as curious about them as they were about me. The one who had a crush on my boyfriend complemented me on the way I looked, they said i was sexy which by European standards I was definetly not, hot, slightly sunburnt and my hair frizzed out due to the sun I guess.

They only other time people were aware of my gender was checking into hotels when they saw my passport. I was aware that they were talking about the M on my passport in Hindi but still they were very polite and would add me as "Miss" or "Mrs" into the hotel register.

One thing my boyfriend hated was boys or men going to him and asking if he would take a photo of him with me. This made my boyfriend really mad/jealous as he didnt understand why they wanted photos of me.

If you are like I was, transgender and worried about India then please don't worry about anything, in India people will accept you and most probably stare but it's not in an agressive way, more just out of curiosity.

fsg

So kind of you to post your experiences.

India is a conundrum. as you have experienced

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The British gave India bureaucracy..... India perfected it [Lord Desai]

namaste_cat

Anna, glad you had a great time in India, and took the effort to update us Your experiences will be very helpful to others.

BTW, it's not unusual for foreigners of any gender to be asked to pose for photos.

brishti

anna - thank you for posting your experiences
it was a heart warming read - come back someday.



:brishti

federica

Almost the same feeling I had after arriving in India
Nice post, Anna! And it's always great to see a feedback after return.

Sama

sounds like a beautiful experience! loved the dancing part....

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MY INDIA, 2005-2008
"Once you have felt the Indian dust, you will never be free of it." (Rumer Godden, 1975)

wonderwomanusa

Welcome back, Anna! Sounds like you had a great time ... thanks for sharing it with us.

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The map is not the territory. --Alfred Korzybski

camelgirl

Thanks Anna for your update. Sounds like it turned out very well! Even the "you don't look like your passport" went smoothly.

As namaste-cat mentioned, asking to have your photo taken with some stranger isn't all that unusual, of me with someone or my hubbie with someone and we laugh afterward because it's so funny--like us ordinary looking foreign senior citizens are celebrities

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My selected India photos http://www.indiamike.com/photopost/s...r/7030/cat/500

LilBoy BigTown

Vey well said Anna, so glad you enjoyed your time in India and thank you for sharing it with us.

Kingstonian

Many thanks for the feedback Anna - so glad the trip went well for you

Haylo

Thanks for posting back, I'm sure a lot of people will find your positive report encouraging.

It sounds as if India lured you in as it has with many many of us.

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The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful - E.E. Cummings, poet (1894-1962)

anna paradox

Yes, I admit, India has lured me in. It wasn't until I was back home that I realised how much I loved being there. I'm trying to plan my trip to Ethiopia and Kenya but it just doesn't have the oomph that India had.

I discussed it all with a colleague who lived in Goa for 14 years, she reckons it's the street energy that is so addictive. Maybe I should just cancel Africa and buy tickets to Delhi again

camelgirl

Nothing is like India but seeing other parts of the world offers it's own enlightenment. Continue with your Ethiopia and Kenya plans. I've been to Ethiopia twice and Kenya once and they are both worth visiting. Ethiopia is otherworldly in it's own way and Kenya, of course, has those amazing safari opportunities, which are unforgettable.

My personal motto/mantra is -- keep traveling!