By Esha Roy
She has now graduated to not only anchoring the 2011 transgender beauty pageant, but is also the first ever transgender/cross-dresser to be cast in a Manipuri mainstream movie, to be released next year.
“The movie is called Aungtamo (Yes Brother). It’s about the love between a young transgender and a boy — I of course play the transgender,” says Huirem.
Wearing a flirty polka-dotted top and black slacks, Huirem doesn’t look like a young man at all. “Hopefully there will be a time in the near future when I will be cast in a lead female role,” she says, striking a pose inside ‘Bishesh Glam’, the beauty parlour she runs.
Sixty per cent of Imphal’s beauty salons are run by the gay and transgender community. They are unisex salons catering to both men and women. “We are known mainly for our hairdressing. Most transgenders and homosexuals here are a part of the beauty industry,” says Huirem.
Moirangthem Sadananda Singh of Saathi, a group that works with people with alternative sexualities, says the fashion and beauty industry provides the community with an economically viable occupation. “Most members of this community are school or college dropouts as they get bullied at school — this despite the fact that the Manipuri society is more or less accepting of them. But they don’t need particular educational qualifications to become hairdressers, beauticians, choreographers, fashion designers or make-up artists,” Singh says.
While the official State AIDS Society figures show there are 850 transgender and gay people in Imphal, Manipur has approximately 1,550 known transgender/gay people.
“The gay community here is traditionally a very high-profile community. A musical drama art form called Sumang Lila has traditionally cast transgenders in the roles of the heroine and other female characters. So they actually have a bit of a celebrity status here, Sumang Lila being a very popular art form,” adds Singh.
This is one of the reasons the 2011 transgender beauty pageant had a big turnout, with the 5,000-odd capacity Bheiganchandra Open Air Theatre in Imphal nearly completely full on a Monday night. Even families had turned up, for an evening out. It was the biggest such beauty pageant in Manipur till date, with an unprecedented 31 contestants.
Mona Okram (previously Oliver Okram) who emerged the winner is also from Huirem’s salon. Now 21, she has been working at the salon for six years. Her ambition is to be a world-class hairdresser and maybe compete in Miss India one day. Her style icon is Lady Gaga and she is also a big Katy Perry fan.
“From the time I was in Class II, I felt more like a girl and would dress up and behave like one. While my father died while I was a baby, my mother never discouraged me from being the way that I was. I have two elder sisters who were also supportive,” says Okram.
“When I walk down the street, no one gives me a second glance. My mother used to be a little apprehensive when I grew up but when she realised that the beauty line was this lucrative, she stopped worrying,” she adds.
Bishesh Glam gets at least 20 customers a day and the salon makes a neat Rs 2,000 daily — a considerable sum in this Northeastern state.
But not everyone has had it as easy as Okram. Ranjit Maimon, who helped organise the beauty pageant and is not a cross-dresser like the others, says he used to be beaten up by his brothers.
“They used to say I was too girlish. Till about two years ago my family, especially my mother, would pressure me to get married to a woman. They just would not grasp that I’m gay. I have been explaining my work to my mother and telling her I work in HIV prevention. I think she’s finally given up. So now I tell her I will get married but to a man,” says the 36-year-old.
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