Soon after realising her sexual orientation, 23-year-old Babli left her family in 2010, to save her kin from "public shaming". Seven years down the line, she has made everyone proud after becoming the first transgender person to become a legal consultant of the Delhi High Court.
Babli, hailing from Badaun in UP, started working on a project with the Delhi State Legal Services Authority five months ago, after which she was selected for the post. The journey, however, was not easy. Mental torture and harassment were a regular affair for her.
"My family has always been very supportive of me and my sexual orientation. But, this didn't stop the jibes from the neighbours and relatives, that would haunt me daily. When things went out of line, I decided to leave the house. I consulted a trans friend of mine, who had been working as an orchestra dancer, and decided to join them to earn a living," Babli said.
One day, while she was on a tour with her orchestra team, she saw a person beating a trans and it was on that day that she realised she wants to become the voice of the community.
"After returning from the tour, I decided to leave the orchestra. I joined a non-governmental organisation, Pahel, to study. There was no looking back thereafter. Though it was not easy initially, I found ways to work around my hurdles. I used to wake up early to cope with others, as I had missed a lot of early schooling," added Babli.
Finally, after toiling day and night, she secured a government job at the Delhi High Court in September.
But, what haunts her still is the kind of treatment usually meted out to transgender people.
"I know the world sees us differently, but, at the end, we are humans, too. I still do not understand why people see us as untouchables. This was not something we chose. People should treat us equally; we have done no wrong. We are all creations of God. I have also worked with the Delhi Traffic Police in various campaigns creating awareness about traffic rules and believe in doing a lot of social work in the future, too," she said.
Babli now lives a life of respect and proudly identifies herself as a transgender person. The only thing, she says, missing in her life, is her family.
