India’s 1st International Transgender Beauty Queen Once Washed Dishes, Survived Sexual Assault!

Our society has an entire blueprint of inhibitions catapulted for each one of us, right? But, what if we become a part of a community which is looked down upon and isn’t accepted at all no matter how good your habits are? Yes, we’re talking about the lesser privileged part of human society — the transgender community! Honestly peeps, how many of you have even looked at a transgender person and smiled? Owing to the various beliefs of this so-called society, most of us turn away upon seeing a transgender.

But yeah, the world sure is changing its lens now while viewing them. India’s transgender community is making headlines by achieving significant milestones. They are making India proud are becoming well-deserved and respected members of the society as principals, beauty queens, models, and even a trial court judge — we’re referring to Joyita Mondal.

However, today in this segment, we’re talking about Ms. Aizya Naaz Joshi, who is India’s first international transgender beauty queen. She was crowned Miss World Diversity for the third consecutive year, thereby, achieving a hattrick in Mauritius. Her life has been an incredible journey overfilled with obstacles that could’ve devastated even the best of us. Her story is an overwhelming one of a person that survived the hard waves of belonging to the long-oppressed community. Her story is that of a rape survivor and a survivor of the brackets of being called the stereotype. Let’s know her story better and be inspired. Read on.

On Her Achievement

In one of her interviews, Naaz said that she was very overwhelmed with her achievement and was delighted to be honored with the award for the third time. Winning it, she felt that she didn’t just do something for herself but was a contribution to her community too. She dedicated this award to her community — the transgender community.

Her Early Life And Struggles

Naaz was born in 1984 in a place called Shahdara in East Delhi. Her family was one that ran on humble means. And, Naaz recalls that she knew at a very early stage that she was unique and different. She explains this by saying that people like her are normal too. The only difference is that they aren’t born with normal bodies and this isn’t their fault. She says that the transgenders are born with a soul and heart of woman, however, they are trapped in the body of a man. Since childhood, she loved acting like a girl. Her parents faced criticism for this behavior of hers. She says that no parents would want to let go of their child, but the society’s influence made them send Naaz to live in Mumbai with her uncle’s family. Her parents thought that a city as big as Mumbai will be a safer place for her.

She admits that upon shifting to Mumbai her bullying saw a steep drop. Her mother used to send money to her uncle for Naaz’s expenses. However, Naaz wasn’t given a dime. She was told to get a job, which she did at a Dhaba and with that income, she sponsored her education. She’d wash the dishes there.

When Naaz Became Victim Of One Of The Heinous Crimes

At a tender age of 11, she went through an incident that left her traumatized. Her cousin brother and his friends gang-raped Naaz and she was hospitalized. And when she woke up, her uncle and aunt forbade her from talking about it to anybody else. Recalling the horrifying memory, Naaz says that she was a child and had no idea what rape meant. All she knew was that she was injured brutally. It’s only much later in life that she realized what had happened with her.

Working In A Dance Bar Changed Her Life

One fine day, a transwoman, whom Naaz met on the streets, found her a job at a dance bar. Naaz agreed and she enjoyed working there. She says that there she was allowed to dress like a woman and be herself. Although there’s a stereotype about dance bars being essentially brothels, Naaz lived a happy life there. She found a place to stay there and food to eat. And with the income, she finished her schooling and began to look for better opportunities in life.

There she met Viveka Babajee, a late supermodel, who was her cousin sister. Naaz was 18 and Viveka encouraged her towards modeling as Viveka thought Naaz had it in her to become a supermodel. Viveka even encouraged her to finish her further studies.

Naaz’s Entry Into Glam World

With the support of Viveka, Naaz got into NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology), Delhi. Viveka sponsored her education for the next three years. It was a time when the Supreme Court had not legally recognized the third gender yet. Therefore, Naaz had to dress herself as male and she was willing to do so to enter the fashion industry.

In 2010, Viveka passed away and this left Naaz devastated. She somehow recovered and worked in a food joint and funded her education with it. Eventually, Naaz finished her education at NIFT, topping her class. Later, she went on to work with famous designers like Ritu Beri and Ritu Kumar. She had to quit that job as her colleagues felt insulted to take instructions from a transgender.

The Year That Changed Her Life Forever

In 2014, Naaz met a well-known photographer Rishi Taneja. He was filming a documentary about the transgender community and he thought that Naaz could be the perfect muse. In the end, Taneja made the document based on Naaz’s life! When this project was released, it gave her the status of a celebrity. The biopic was loved by many and media channels, like the CNN-IBN, even did a special 30-minute show on her. This media coverage gave her the title of being the first-ever model from the transgender community. Naaz felt that she had fulfilled Viveka’s dream.

Things got way better in 2014, when the Supreme Court the historic judgment of NALSA on 15th April — judgment that recognized the transgenders as the “third” gender.

From thereon, Naaz decided to dedicate all her time to make the world better for the transgender community. She says that she wants to use her crown to create employment with the government, so that her community is provided all the basic needs that other genders get. She wants to work on the acceptance of same-gender and transgender marriages. She says that when Tamil Nadu could accept transgender brides, even the rest of India can do the same.

All we can say here is that we applaud the life of this beautiful woman who stuck to her dream despite having the odds against her. And let’s all take a pledge to look at the trans community with love in our hearts and respect in our eyes.

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