Indore : “Commitment and will power has brought me to this renowned stage today. Whereas thousands of babies born eunuchs like me are killed,” Laxmi Narayan Tripathi said on the concluding ceremony of Indore Literature Festival (ILF) 2015.
ILF concluded with celebration of the art and culture of India and Pakistan on Sunday. This three-day fest invited renowned Hindi, Marathi and Urdu writers and poets from both the countries. Writers and poets expressed their gratitude at being invited to the city of culture, love and food.
Laxmi graced the stage of ILF on Sunday. She is a third gender rights activist and is a professional Bharatanatyam dancer who often acts in Bollywood movies. She is the first eunuch to represent Asia Pacific in the UN in 2008. She has written an autobiography titled, “Me Hijra, Me Laxmi” that was released in English in February.
“The book is about my life. It has everything from my love affairs to mental and physical abuse I went through. Most importantly it is about finding and living a life of grace, dignity and fame. It is about Laxmi, a person who recognises herself as a Hijra and is proud of the fact,” she said.
She expresses her love for her mother. She gives her mother the credit for everything that she is today. “I am alive because of my mother. She means the world to me,” Laxmi said.
Her bold thoughts appealed to the writers. She spoke about her life’s incidents and struggles. “I am spellbound by her, she is a wonderful artist and an inspiration,” poet Prabhat Ranjan said.
