With a reward of twenty rupees, he returned three snaps of his fingers on the head as a sign of blessing. Both feared and respected, they belong to the “third gender” and stay together to survive; They are part of the Hijra community also known as Thirunangai in Tamil Nadu.

Chandra and Poojashree were begging near the bus terminal in Skinhalai town. This sector was assigned to them by their leader called “Nayak”. In the afternoon, they will go to the hotel to receive clients.

Abandoned by their families, these “sisters” form a community facing various social, health and financial crises. Guests at weddings, they guarantee the couple’s fertility.

Accompanied by Hijras for the Koovagam festival in South India

Although their status, sometimes hidden and feared, sometimes respected, has long guaranteed them a certain social recognition, they nevertheless must receive a certain social recognitioncolonial legacy from the Victorian era make some outcasta “criminal tribe” that suffers from the gaze of others.

Since 2014, India has again recognized its population as no less than thatone million people inside it. By giving them legal status and including the “third gender”the Indian government is reconnecting with its traditions and freeing this population from the stigmatization they have long suffered.

Photo Story: Six months with the transgender community in South India

Thus, India joins the ranks of Asian countries that have legalized the idea of ​​a third gender which includes Thailand, Nepal and Malaysia with the peculiarity that India also recognizes chosen change of gender, and not simply intersexuality at birth.

Despite legal progress, Hijras remain marginalized and often resort to begging and prostitution to survive.

“The Parcel”, a novel about the Hijra community in Kamathipura, Bombay’s red light district