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Changing one’s gender is not
like changing one’s clothes, you know,” says Gauri
Sawant, 25, a little affronted that we would even
suggest that it was an easy task. This 5’8” tall, dusky,
young woman clad in blue jeans and a short trendy kurta
should know — she used to be Gaurinandan, a man, till
about a year ago.
“It is a slow and expensive
process. During that period, you are neither male nor
female, which is a very embarrassing situation,”
continues Gauri, who is now the chairperson of Sakhi
Charchowghi, a support group for gays, lesbians,
transsexuals, bisexuals, transvestites and “everyone in
between” as she puts it.
“At first, my psychiatrist
tried his level best to dissuade me from undergoing the
operation. But it was something that I desperately
wanted and I stood my ground,” said Gauri, who is now
undergoing HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy). In case
of a male-to-female sex change, the hormone estrogen is
given to make the appearance, the body, and even the
voice feminine. “My body has become softer, and I’ve
even got small breasts now,” says Gauri candidly.
Breasts obviously are a big
deal. Bobby Darling cannot stop talking about them. “Now
that I have got them, I feel like a complete woman,”
Bobby says with a giggle. “It’s worth the 15 lakhs that
I’m spending in getting the sex-change done in Bangkok.”
Bobby says the whole process
takes more than two years and costs at least five to six
lakhs in India. There are a minimum of four procedures
involved, the first being a six-hour operation and the
next procedures take two to four hours each.
“And then, of course, there
is the painful laser treatment for hair removal (at
least six sittings that cost Rs 6,000 per sitting),
hormonal pills (that cost Rs 4,000 per month), voice
therapy. And yes, the shopping!”
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