00:01Combatore, India. My connection to this story and this place is unique.
00:07My grandfather was born here and now I'm visiting for the first time nearly eight decades later.
00:14Like many places in the subcontinent, it's a city exploring the boundaries of old and new.
00:20But one community in particular is pushing through a complex past and looking towards a transforming future.
00:27They are Hijra, India's ancient transgender community.
00:32We've only just arrived, but my team and I have been invited to a unique celebration.
00:38This is a ceremony of rebirth, a moment of transformation.
00:43It's a welcome into womanhood and a community of like-minded souls.
00:48For one, this party marks the very first time to dress in sari,
00:52a badge of honour and symbol of femininity for nearly all Indian women.
00:57It is a part of my life. I want to say,
01:06I'm a god, my god, my god, my god.
01:07It sounds like a thousand people have a really great foundation.
01:11It's a great foundation, and I want to make it a really great foundation.
01:16Hijra are now a politically recognized third gender,
01:20a category of people whose identity is neither male nor female.
01:26male. They began their lives as one gender, but have physically transitioned to another.
01:33Dana is one of the estimated two million hijra in India.
01:38You look so lovely. This color is amazing.
01:55Hijra means something different. I was born a man, now I'm a woman. I did a sex change,
02:04so I'm a transsexual woman. I feel proud to be a transgender. I don't think there's
02:09something abnormal in me.
02:14In India, Hijra have a recorded history of more than 4,000 years. Royal courts held them
02:21in high regard, and sacred Hindu texts describe them in bright sari and delicate jewelry, bestowing
02:27them with special powers to bring luck and fertility.
02:30The Hijras are considered to be an incarnation, another form of Lord Krishna, Lord Shiva and
02:37Lord Shakti. So every new thing that happens, a transgender is there.
02:42These revered Hijra traditions do continue, and some of Dana's friends have invited us
02:47to see the Hijra offer a blessing.
02:49A newly married couple goes first to a transgender, get their blessings and start their life.
02:55A new born baby is first given to a transgender, and the baby is being blessed.
03:01The community of women greet our arrival and have put on their nicest saris for the occasion.
03:06I can't wait to see it all.
03:14They do some rituals to bless the child.
03:17At first, the baby isn't as welcoming to his new guest, but soon he is mesmerized by the
03:26magical dance and song of the Hijra deity.
03:30Good fortune has arrived.
03:32The words that they are saying are assigned.
03:36May God bless the child and let the child live for 100 years healthy.
03:42Though despite their special place in Indian culture and history, Hijra have been pushed to the
03:47fringes and have not received the same civil rights as men and women.
03:51The minute the family realizes that this person is not of a regular gender, they probably beg
03:57that human being please leave.
03:58Because it brings shame on the family.
04:00Yeah, shame on the family.
04:01And when you don't have education, you can't work.
04:03That's the reason they are involved in heavy sex trade, heavy prostitution.
04:07Rejected by their families and society, many turn to prostitution and begging as their
04:12only means to survive.
04:13They are refused jobs, ostracized, criminalized, and even sexually assaulted on the street.
04:34I never used to behave like a guy.
04:37I used to help my mom in the kitchen, help her in cooking.
04:40Did you feel comfortable talking to your family about the way that you felt?
04:43Well, they didn't accept me.
04:45They want me as a son, not as a daughter.
04:48It's been now six years.
04:49I'm out of my family altogether.
04:52I was really scared, but I had no choice.
04:55How did you find your courage?
04:57The passion to become a female made my mind strong.
05:01Dana is now trying to put the past behind her and embracing her new identity.
05:07She invited me to stop by her local garment shop, where the choice of fabric allows women
05:12to create their look from a variety of colors and textures.
05:15It was well on the white t-shirt, yeah?
05:17Yeah.
05:19The history of the sari is traced back thousands of years to the western part of India.
05:24The word sari is Sanskrit for strip of cloth.
05:29There seems to be a lot of material.
05:33Who taught you how to do this?
05:35I learned when I saw when my mom was draping this.
05:38Oh, so she didn't actually show you, you just paid attention.
05:42We're tucking and draping everything around the underskirt.
05:45Yeah.
05:45The garment measures an impressive 15 to 18 feet long,
05:48though there are many recorded ways to drape it.
05:52It's a simple foundation, but for Dana, a sari was essential to realizing her true self.
05:57When did you finally put your first sari on?
06:00After the sex change.
06:02How did you feel when you saw yourself?
06:04I felt I've done what I was aspiring for.
06:07Really?
06:08I burst out in tears.
06:10Oh, it's beginning to take shape.
06:12Before, yeah, I would be laughed at.
06:15I would be laughed at.
06:17Now that you get to wear a sari, you have your own sense of style, who Dana really is.
06:22Yeah.
06:26Woo!
06:28Wow.
06:29Wow, right.
06:30You guys!
06:35Wow.
06:42Wow.
06:43Wow, wow.
06:43You guys!
06:46Fashion is our most ready means available to us to express in a visual,
06:52statement our identity and something as simple as this sari has been denied to
06:59them these women are so courageous it might just be a piece of clothing to
07:04some but to a special group of people it's an identity a victory a new
07:09beginning I feel very happy because I've undergone so many pain in my life to
07:15become like this when we are with our community I feel at home
