Chennai: Aruvi is a 25-year-old transgender person pursuing gender studies at the University of Hyderabad. Having previously worked in the IT sector, she is a strong advocate of the rights of the transgender community – who face discrimination across India.
Aruvi lives in Chennai, the capital of the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. When the BJP-led central government enforced a strict lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Aruvi – along with two of her friends Srijith and Anish, came up with an idea to ameliorate the condition of the trans people.
The idea that they came up with is called ‘mutual aid fund’. The trio has extended support to many trans people starting last November. They claim to have conducted two successful projects so far, one on the occasion of Diwali in 2020 and the one on Pongal earlier this month.
Talking to TwoCircles.net, the trio say that they look forward to conducting similar projects in future to support their trans community.
“None of us are free until all of us are free,” Aruvi says, while heartily laughing about trans liberation.
Aruvi, with the help of two of her friends, says that their ‘mutual aid fund’ initiative began in March last year.
Aruvi says that their idea of providing help is different from others. “The concept of ‘mutual aid’ was proposed by a Russian anarchist named Kropotkin. Charity plonks an eligibility criterion for those who seek help and stands exclusive of certain vulnerable communities. In mutual aid there is no hierarchy, there’s no pecking order, help is given then and there,” she tells me.
The idea gives a new meaning to the habit of circulating incapacitated images and photographs of the marginalised community to raise funds in the name of charity, whereas mutual aid is an easily practicable and decentralised approach, Aruvi says.
During the festival of Diwali last year, the trio provided sarees (a garment wore by women in India) to over thirty people in Chennai in a project called ‘Give a Gift of Gender Euphoria’ and during Pongal earlier this month, the team distributed blankets.
Aruvi speaks enthusiastically about the Solapur blanket being a part of the kit, which are multi-coloured and create a sense of warmth. The kit also accommodated a 25 kg rice bag, sunflower oil, dates and nuts among other essentials.
Additionally, the trio extended help in buying hardware equipment like sewing machines for entrepreneurial community members.
Aruvi’s team is particular about providing nurturing groceries because many trans people do not have access to ration cards. “Their identities are haunted and disabled from benefitting anything that is government given,” she says.
According to the Census of 2011, there are around 30,000 trans people in the state of Tamil Nadu. During the Covid-19 lockdown, the state provided Rs. 1000 and 12 Kgs of rice per month for those with transgender identity cards (although many trans people don’t even possess that).
However, this provision had come to a pause very soon. Abandoned by their families and having to live under unquarantined conditions after losing their livelihoods, many trans people took to creating awareness about Covid-19 among the general public through theatrical street performance.
As per these trans people, any initiative of the state has remained an act of tokenism alone.
Trans people say that the Pongal gift hamper of Rs. 2500 and other groceries provided by the state government through the Public Distribution Scheme to ration cardholders could not be availed by the trans population as they did not have access to it. Most of the trans population do not possess the consumer smart card as they lack valid address and identity proof.
Added to these disadvantages is the fear of violence that the transgender community face in the state. The brutal murder of Sangeetha, a trans woman in Coimbatore in October has not made Tamil Nadu a safe haven for the community. The incident has left deep fear and anxiety among the trans community and they say they have to solely rely on each other for their safety.
The Pongal project by Aruvi and her team brings out the promising nature of mutual aid as their aid expanded to Namakkal and Coimbatore in addition to Chennai.
In January alone, they were able to help over sixty people including working-class cis women, trans women, LGBQ+ migrants, HIV positive women and people from Kothi communities across these three cities.
Aruvi talked about the capital and disposable income of the rich and their audacity to laugh at the ‘extravagance’ of the poor.
The narrative of the underprivileged not having any entrepreneurial literacy is sharply refuted by Aruvi. “We are not teaching anyone how to fish. They already know how to fish. They have the rod and bait ready. Our help is just leverage. It’s like my people have a scooter, they just don’t have the money for petrol,” Aruvi explains.
Aruvi says that it is due to the shunning of trans people at every juncture of their lives, and the abnegation they face from job markets pushes them to to do kadai kekrathu (asking for money in shops) or sex work. “This socioeconomic unfairness is one of the reasons why we wanted to pack our kits with provisions which they would hesitate to buy under current circumstances because it just costs too much,” Aruvi says and adds that she wanted a flavour of self-respect parcelled with the kits.
Aruvi cheerfully spoke about the decent relationship she was able to build with chance acquaintances throughout the course of the projects.
When there was a government ordinance in place early into the lockdown that restricted the public from distributing provisions owing to physical distancing, the hiccup was overcome by Aruvi and her team by directly forwarding the money to the local community leaders.
When asked if it was a tedious job to hunt down the contacts of local community leaders, Aruvi says that it was rather very easy for them.
The network among the trans communities, who are otherwise confined to the peripheral edge of the society, still remains strong.
To sustain the mutuality with the funders and to keep a record of their progress, emails are collected from those who contributed to the mutual aid. By the end of the project, details of the distribution work and images are shared privately to the contributors.
Aruvi says that it keeps them settled, creates a network and foundation to carry out similar projects in future. “It also assures a sheltered process with no breaching of privacy,” she adds.
When asked about what the general public can do to help the situation of transgender people, Aruvi’s response was surprisingly grounded. “Give them money if they ask you on the streets, it will make them self-sufficient. All of these lofty things like education, entrepreneurship, etc are needed but hunger comes before all this,” she says.
Aruvi and her friends have set an example for the trans community, which they want to continue in the future.
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