Me Hijra, Me Laxmi

Laxmi

Translated from Marathi

by PG Joshi and R Raj Rao

Oxford University Press,

264 pages, Rs. 445

Laxminarayan Tripathi was born into a Brahmin household and felt confused, trapped and lonely from a very young age. Over time, he became bold and assertive about his sexual identity, finding his true self as Laxmi, a hijra. From numerous love affairs to finding solace dancing in Mumbai’s bars; from being taunted as a “homo,” to attending an international AIDS conference and fighting for the recognition of hijras’ rights; from mental and physical abuse to finding a life of grace, dignity and fame, this autobiography portrays the extraordinary journey.