Food will overcome prejudice, says transwoman who opened road-side stall in T Nagar
CHENNAI: When she was laid off from her job as a beautician, Anjana Balu, a city-based transwoman, was at crossroads. That is when she decided to start up a food stall, which broke barriers and helped her remain self-reliant.
Two weeks ago, the 28-year-old set up the AMA Food Stall in T Nagar along with two others with the help of the LGBTQ rights NGO Born2Win. The eatery is open from 7 am to 5 pm, serving hot vegetarian food.
“I am estranged from my family, and get no support from them. The only person who keeps in touch with me is my brother, who checks in on me from time to time. It was difficult to establish myself in an honest job. So I am grateful that I have had two self-respecting jobs,” Anjana said.
Things were difficult initially.
Due to her gender identity, many avoided her stall making her wonder if she could continue earning a livelihood. But things turned around before long.
“Two college students help me run the food stall. They spoke to the local public, explaining how I am no different from them. Then they started coming to my stall. I think they started warming up to me after seeing how hard we were working, and how much I wanted to do a good job. There still is some hesitation, but things are better,” said Anjana.
Anjana hopes to nurture hard work and perseverance in other transwomen through her enterprise. In the future, she hopes to employ other transwomen in her stall, so that they can also establish themselves in respectable jobs. For this, she wants to expand to other locations so that more transwomen can set up their own AMA Food Stalls.