Freedom To Be

 

“I will exist, no matter what. Look at the relationship, not the gender. Vulnerability makes communities, otherwise it is an exchange.” In four episodes that take one from Mumbai to Delhi, from Jharkhand to Kolkata, Ayesha Sood takes us deep into the lives of men and women in transit, trying to be whole with who they want to be. They find love, heartbreak, hope and loss, but they continue, pursuing a magical dream of being comfortable with their aspiration. Often thrown out by parents, rejected by friends, In Transit also talks of the cour­age and care the trans men and women show each other, One of them teaches Van Gujjars, the children unaffected by the gender of their teacher. Another pushes the diversity agenda at a large, manufacturing firm. Yet another gets thrown out of a hospital after 10 years when the old supportive head leaves. Another, a clinical psychologist, wants to create a chill space for those who inhabit the liminal space. Dancing like Madhuri Dixit saves one transwoman; dreaming like Shah Rukh Khan, arms wide open to receive love, saves another; and dressing in drag is another’s therapy. Gliding smoothly from one to another, making them the hero of their story, nudging them out of the shadows and half world they live in, these are self-made men and women whom Sood’s camera celebrates.

Anushuti ChatterjeeAyesha SoodDocu-seriesIn TransitPrime VideoRumi Harish