07/05/2012
Just wanted to share this article with my friends which i wrote a couple of years ago ----
The Third Gender
Eunuchs—the third gender (as they were called and treated during the time of Nawabs) is now politically accepted race but are shunned and feared by the society. I am a little bit confused whether to use ‘he’ or ‘she’ for them but after seeing there interests in politics and in other fields, its better to address them as a masculine gender, although they like themselves to be noticed as females. That’s why one can find the names of eu**chs as ‘Chameli’, ‘Farzana’, ‘Razia’, ‘Rekha’ etc.,
Eunuchs have become so powerful now that in some areas they can dictate there terms. But however, the situation was not always the same during the time of Nawabs. Generally eu**chs were kidnapped when they were kids and sold to the rich and powerful persons. They were treated like slaves. But on the other hand some eu**chs had acquired not only a special status but had a special role in the monarchy during the period of Nawab Nasiruddin Haider (1827-1837). In fact some of them were the part and parcel of Muslim Aristocracy. There were somewhere around 150 eu**chs in the palace of Nawab Nasiruddin Haider.
Some of the Eunuchs were very perfect in arts like drama, dance etc. In fact they shared the stage with the great danseuse and the last Nawab of Avadh called Wajid Ali Shah. The Nawab was very fond of dance and drama. Wajid Ali Shah was over generous to the third gender and used to give expensive gifts for the good performance. But dance and drama was not the cup of tea of these gentlemen (better to use this word now). They performed just to remain in the good books of the Nawabs and wealthy persons. Actually they were sold the mighty to look after the daily needs of their ladies and to assist them while they took their bath, because they had free access to the harem at any time of the day and were considered better than female slaves. In fact in the royal palace, they were given the jobs of physically punishing the erring female slaves. Not only this, when a female slave was dismissed, she was killed in the palace itself to maintain secrecy and this assignment too was given to the gentlemen.
One can see eu**chs singing and dancing in the by lanes of Old Lucknow whenever there is a wedding or birth of a child. Of course they come after some days of the ceremony so that the person is free to listen them. Although they come to bless the newly wed couples or a new born baby, but they demand a hefty amount. I have seen their blessings are directy proportional to the amount you pay. They are very adamant about the donation they demand for their livelihood (this is the only source of income for most of them). Their demands depend on your status also. If you have a large house and a car, it may be rupees ten thousand also. Normally they demand between three thousand to five thousand apart from some kgs of wheat or rice and sometimes jewellery also. Once you deny the donation or treat them ill, they will be a pain for you at that moment. They will curse you like anything (elderly people still think that if they curse someone, that person will never succeed in life). Sometimes they put off their clothes to meet their demands. I must tell you that they are like detectives and sometimes they take lead to Local Intelligence Unit to know who is getting married or giving birth in their area ( they divide their areas and no other eu**ch can enter their area ).
Sometimes back I happened to be in a small town of Madhya Pradesh known as Raath. I was with a photographer and a journalist of a very popular magazine of England. They were doing a story on the Eunuchs. A convention of some fifteen hundred of eu**chs was going on there. We faced a few hurdles in our endeavour to gain access to the venue. As we entered the premesis, I was a little bit scared because for the first time in my whole life I saw so many of them and that too in one place. I was of the opinion that they always treat the person very rudely (because of the frustration that they were ill treated in the society). After conversing with them for a while, my opinion changed upto an extent but not to a fault. Much to my amazement some of them were rather decent in nature, educationally qualified and variously skilled. And after mingling with the elite of this group I felt somewhat ashamed of my days when I used to refer to them as ‘chhakkas’ (an abusive term for eu**chs in India). Later on I even learnt that some of them adopted orphans and looked after their well-being. The eldest of them even asked us for lunch also.
Many of the gentlemen have become politicians also. So you can’t take liberties now, they are united. Gone are the days when they were mere servants. In some areas they can even dictate their terms. But they still love their age-old profession--- singing and dancing at the time of birth of a child or marriage. One can still see them performing in the by lanes of old Lucknow and sharing their weal and woes.
The author of this article Ajay Jain is the founder Director of Waltz India Tours and has an inclination towards the unusual things in life. He loves to be around with off-beat guests and like a student learns every bit of the interest. His interest in researching the issues before getting on to the job has also made him quite popular among the guests who themselves are in search of the not so popular trails of travel. Contact him at [email protected]
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