Covid Chronicles from Kolkata

RAINBOW PICKERS

The trans gender waste collecters

Our relief work during the Covid-19 lockdown brought me in contact with the transgender waste pickers of Dhapar Maath, a community of people even I had no clue existed.

Clean and hygienic city looks so beautiful, but cleaning a city is not a easy task. In Kolkata the waste is dumped at Dhapar maath, which is a dumping yard. With time the dump yard has accumulated a lot of waste to make a small mountain like structure, but this could have even more disastrous if there were no waste pickers.

One group of waste collector, who are transgender individuals, work every day in the dump yard to clean the waste. These people are generally ignored and are kept out of the society by the privileged. Even I was never aware of transgender people doing waste collection work, despite my 27 years of experience working with the transgender community, until our Covid-19 relief work brought us in contact with them.

I noticed this group of people have a different language which is very difficult for me to understand. So I requested that they speak slowly for me to understand. After a long conversation I got to know about their lifestyle , work and family.

They give a huge 13 hour to the waste collection work only to earn INR 300 - 500 per day, starting their day from 6:00 AM to 7:00 PM after which they enjoy their time bathing together by a small stream. Their bodies become very tired and they all sit together drinking cheap country liquor. This is the only time when they share stories and emotion among each other, and get relaxed from their hectic and traumatising life. They also make "parik" sex partners over their.

AMOUNT OF MONEY.

FACING ALL SORTS OF HEALTH AND HYGIENE ISSUES AND DIFFICULTIES THESE PEOPLE ARE LABOURING AWAY TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE ENVIRONMENT WHILE MAKING MINUSCULE

Their work is also very risky as they risk their health by working in the most unhygienic place , between flies and foul smell. They also don't use masks , gloves or boots due to which they sometimes fall sick or wound their hands or legs. I saw they have different techniques to work which might not be very convenient or comfortable for everyone.

Being transgender persons they are already a victim of societal stigma and being a waste collector they are considered as people from a very lower cast or untouchables. This creates a feeling of alienation in them and they don't avail any government schemes and facilities. The state also don't consider their work nor do they provide them with any facilities.

আজ যন কােনা ঝেড়র অেপায় থমথেম হেয় আেছ।

আর আমরা জানলার গরােদর এপার থেক

বাইেরর পিথবীটা দখেত দখেত,

ভতর ভতর শ হি।

কননা আমরা বেঝ

AS PER THE RECENT NEWS, THE GOVERNMENT HAS PLANNED TO SET UP A SEGREGATION PLANT IN THE AREA , WHICH MEANS THAT THE WASTE COLLECTORS WILL NO LONGER BE NEEDED.

TRANSGENDER COLLECTIVE

COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines, sooner we all realized that this is not going to be easy We felt trapped in a critical condition Our sociality was disrupted, and many of us felt physically isolated and depressed

Community people all around started calling us at Somobhabona seeking help and support Luckily many of our collective members are immensely connected via social media and phone calls We received over 300 calls each day in the first few months, and decided to plan an outreach program We developed a fundraising platform through our allies, and raised a significant amount of money for conducting relief efforts We shared these resources with our friends from neighboring regions Together we were getting ready to help our community eat and pay rent, since many of their occupations such as bar dancing, begging (challa), Badhai, performing at weddings and events or beauty parlors had shut down

Amrita one of the member from the group wore mask and took a life risk to move out of her house for distributing the relief to the grassroots community people This was a very tough task , where she herself was in great fear, even she had to face the policeman who insisted her to stay back home, but to her giving the support was very important We started giving support with first providing bags of rice, potatoes, cooking oil and lentils Providing this first support felt like a huge community mental health boosting

Soon after this we learnt that the lockdown is not getting over very soon Thus we started preparing for another round of relief distribution As we continued our relief efforts, long lines were formed by our community members, as well as many aged persons came seeking for relief Some people in the neighborhood got angry, and worried that so many people will bring COVID-19 to the neighborhood They tried to stop the relief, and called the police

Our member Raina, sensitize the police person about the work with lot of efforts after which the ration was distributed, even with all these obstacles, we served the community with full enthusiasm

TRANSGENDER PEOPLE IN KOLKATA RELY ON EACH OTHER FOR BUILDING A SENSE OF SAFETY AND SOLIDARITY. OUR FAMILY IS FORMED WITH OUR FRIENDS, AND OUR HOUSEHOLDS ARE OFTEN MADE UP OF A GROUP OF FRIENDS LIVING WITH EACH OTHER, SHARING BONDS OF LOVE AND SOLIDARITY. COVID-19 AFFECTED OUR LIVES VERY BADLY, WHERE NONE OF US WERE EMOTIONALLY, PHYSICALLY AND FINANCIALLY PREPARED TO DEAL WITH THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE LOCKDOWN.

THE STORY OF RAKHI'S SURVIVAL

RAKHI IS ONE OF THE TRANSGENDER WOMEN FROM THE OPPRESSED GRASS ROOT COMMUNITY SURVIVING IN WEST BENGAL. BEGGING IS HER ONLY SOURCE OF INCOME AND SURVIVAL. EARLY IN LIFE DUE TO LACK OF ACCEPTANCE SHE HAD TO STOP HER STUDIES AND JOIN THE HIJRA COMMUNITY

THE FIRST LOCKDOWN IN MARCH 2020 CAME AS A SHOCK TO RAKHI. IT WAS ALMOST BEYOND HER IMAGINATION. SO NEXT MORNING SHE GETS READY IN HER KURTI AND MAKEUP TO BEG AT HER USUAL PLACE. SHE WALKS OUT OF HER HOUSE INTO COMPLETE SILENCE IN THE STREET. EVEN THE STREET DOGS WHOM SHE FED EVERYDAY WERE MISSING.

SHE BRAVES HER WAY TO HER USUAL PLACE OF BEGGING,TO THE MAIN ROAD SIGNAL,ONLY TO REALISE NOTHING WAS THE SAME ANYMORE. THERE WAS FEAR AND CONFUSION.THERE WERE POLICEMEN GETTING VIOLENT WITH PEOPLE WHO HAD STEPPED OUT. SHE GETS BEATEN UP TOO.

WITHIN A WEEK RAKHI IS LEFT EMPTY HANDED WITH NO FOOD OR MONEY. IN THIS DESPERATE SITUATION RATION SUPPORT WAS BEING DISTRIBUTED BY AN ORGANISATION NAMED "SAMABHABONA". RAKHI WAS OFFERED RATION AT HER DOORSTEP DURING THE INITIAL DAYS OF LOCKDOWN FROM THEM.

BUT THE CRISIS HAD JUST STARTED. SOON HER PARTNER WAS TO LEAVE HER FOR GOOD. AND HER LONG TIME DREAM FOR SEX REASSIGNMENT SURGERY LAY SHATTERED BY THE SECOND LOCKDOWN.

THE GAME IS OVER...

,ভাইরাস এর তায়াা না

কের রাায় নেম খবেরর পর খবর সংহ করিছেলা, পৗেছ গিছেলা এেকবাের রাগ আর রাগীর খব কােছ, ধমা এিভাইরাল ওয়াক কিমটেম

SOME OF OUR RELIEF WORK

SOMOBHABONA WOULD LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE MANY OF OUR FRIENDS, ALLIES, COMMUNITY MEMBERS, FAMILY MEMBERS WHO HELPED US WITH DOING RELIEF WORK DURING 2020-2022.