Thiruvananthapuram: The first transgender person in the state to get registered under Handicrafts Development Corporation of Kerala and receive an artisan ID card from Union Ministry of Textiles, has returned home disappointed with the organisers of Loka Kerala Sabha.
Few turned up to buy the beautiful little trinkets, jewellery and bottle art which Thripthi Shetty had made, as her stall was on Public Office Complex, a venue not famous for public events.
Employees at the government offices functioning here had visited the stall on Friday. But the next day, a second Saturday, most of these offices were shut.
She said that she had requested organisers to shift the stall to Museum compound which was right opposite the complex, or Kanakakkunnu, venues where the footfall was in the range of hundreds. Instead of considering her request, organisers promised her to bring the guests attending Loka Kerala Sabha to the venue. So she waited, watching public flock to Museum. Until 7.40 pm on Saturday no one turned up. “They have fooled us,” she said, as she packed up.
This happens to be her first exhibition ever since she got her ID card. Thripthi has been part of over 15 exhibitions, but this, according to her, was her worst experience. She will return to the capital city for a hunger strike in front of the Secretariat; not to protest against the organisers of Loka Kerala Sabha.
Having lived like a vagabond in Pune, Mumbai, Chennai, Coimbatore and Bengaluru, she returned to Kerala to live with dignity. Now that she is here, she wants houses, electoral ID cards and projects encouraging entrepreneurship, for her and her community.
