The SCAM hall at 641 is softly lit. The audience waits for the Tamil one-act play Vellai Mozhi by transgender activist and writer, A Revathi. It is based on her autobiography with the same name and is directed by A. Mangai. The event is organised by Sahodari Foundation in association with Coimbatore One. The stage is set with a wooden stool and few books. Shyam Balasubramanian waits with a flute and a keyboard on the side. The play began after transgender activist Kalki Subramaniam gave a brief introduction to Revathi and how she herself was strongly influenced by her. “Vanakkam,” greets Revathi clad in a red sari and gold jewellery. There is fresh jasmine in her hair. “Ungaley paarke Namakkalerndhu vandirukken.” “Am I looking pretty?, Is my sari beautiful?” she asks the audience. Revathi recalls her younger days when she always wanted to wear a sari even when she was a boy. “I saw a few transgenders and immediately connected with them. I fulfilled my wish after joining them”. She says that she never knew of her beauty until she wore it. “Others in the community said I looked like actress Revathi. So when my guru in the community asked me to change my name, I changed it from Doraiswamy to Revathi.” Her guru was her biggest influence, says Revathi. “She guided me through everything, from behaving in the public to the job I chose.” As she speaks, we hear a loud cry, “Ayyo Amma”. Somebody had stabbed her guru to death. “I mourned for 40 days and I felt like a widow. I wore a white sari, broke my glass bangles and took away my bindi. I felt like that was my end,” she recounts. It was her guru’s sister who urged her to get on with her life. “She gave me colourful saris and bangles and with it immense support.” The life of transgenders is not easy. “There are two options open to us. Be a sex-worker or beg.” She speaks of the travails of finding a job and acceptance in society. “The police locked me in a cell with a thief. They assaulted me and made me stand there naked in front of him.” But that did not dampen her spirits says Revathi and shares the story of how she got married. “I loved him, but he did not love me back and I had to let him go.” She is pensive for a few moments but then talks to the audience about the three books she has written. Her first book Unarvum Uruvamum is about the transgender community, her autobiography is called Vellai Mozhi and her latest book is Baduku Bayalu, about transmen. Speaking about the rehearsals for this play,Revathi laughs. “There was no script. This is my story.”

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