Now, I feel like a human being, I feel like I am living
Life wasn’t rosy for Dr VS Priya. Born as a man, Jinu Sasidharan, in Thrissur, Kerala, this Ayurvedic doctor sensed her true gender identity early on, but continued to endure the mockery, until it became a matter of life and death. And that’s when she decided to, with her parents’ support, undergo a gender reassignment surgery early last year, making her Kerala’s first transgender Ayurvedic doctor. “Being a transwoman has been challenging,” she continues, “We’re not made to feel like humans.”
Growing up, she did feel ‘different’, but was unable to express herself. She began writing in a journal, which her parents discovered and instantly took her to a psychiatrist. “They [parents] were taken aback. The psychiatrist ruled out possibilities of a mental illness,” says Priya whose parents were relieved, but soon began curbing her freedom.
“They thought it was a fault in my upbringing,” she shares.
Given her harrowing days in school, Priya decided to masquerade her identity and lead college life as a boy. This continued while pursuing higher studies as well, but it began taking a toll on her: “I felt tired of hiding my identity.”
After joining Sitaram Ayurveda Hospital, Priya began conversing with her peers on gender sensitivity, but first, had to come to terms with it herself. “I had to overcome male ego I built up to survive college. I started researching about transition, and with time, I was 100% ready to tell my mother. She was shocked, but accepted me. My parents love me, irrespective of gender. They love me as their kid, and that’s what parents should do,” says Priya, who also explained the situation to her patients.
How did the lockdown help her with the transition? “Transition is a synchronised process; it is not all about the surgeries. I wanted a gradual change. I told my doctors I want to grow as a woman. The lockdown gave me time to build confidence towards my goal, as I had enough time for rest and recovery… I feel I am living now,” says Priya, who is glad that society is gradually becoming more aware.