Akkai Padmashali: Against all odds

By Rehmat Merchant 

The shocking pink saree says it all. Akkai Padmashali is not a woman you can ignore. She’ll not let you. We are at the launch of her book A Small Step in a Long Journey at the Kannada Bhavan. Feminist and senior journalist Maya Sharma while talking about the author recalls an incident from when the two were copanelists at a seminar. You can completely imagine the scene that is recounted: Akkai strides assuredly up to the podium, looks around and is not pleased about something. She calls out: “Where are the stage lights, bring them on.”

That is Akkai – someone who celebrates her identity, her experiences and loves to share them. She is an inspiration not just for trans people but the marginalised. “At the centre of the book is my struggle but I am also challenging social constructs and stereotypes at all levels. The discourse so far has been – how sad, this community has no jobs, no opportunities. What I call the ‘aiyo papa’ narrative; I am challenging that too,” says she.

The lockdown gave Akkai the time to reflect on her life as an activist and her identity. She found very little literature about sexual minorities. And what she found lacked in-depth understanding of the challenges of the movement. “Gender identity and sexuality are somewhere dominated by the elite, the concerns come from that space. I wanted to write from the perspective of the working class, non-English speaking sexual minority,” says she.

Her book is her personal journey, yet the journey of all trans people who did not have the grammar to articulate their struggle. Human rights lawyer, B T Venkatesh, who has been litigating for 36 years, recalls her smiling face and purposeful stride when she would come to see him for the endless cases she was filing. He jokes - “I’m part of the book and not out of it, I should not be the one speaking about it. I have seen her from a young girl to the woman she is today – always ready to battle.”

But who better than her lawyer who has been through the struggle with her throughout. “Akkai was determined – her clarion call was I am entitled to a life of dignity and I’ll bang the doors of justice till I get it. The book is not just her story but of every member of the community who has aspired for a dignified existence. My only complaint with the book is that it’s too short. This should have been just volume one.”

Maya, who also spoke at the launch, says that her earliest memories of Akkai are of her running with the mike after a budding zealous activist during protests. “Be it Town Hall or Mysore Circle, Akkai was a regular. She was energetic and articulate and her bytes were worth having.”

Protests and Akkai go hand in glove. That was my first encounter with her too. A couple of years ago, it was at a Town Hall protest. The crowd was huge, it was the late evening hour, and we had heard quite a few speeches. Then suddenly a clear voice rang out, the sonorous sounds of the song reviving all. That was Akkai. This was followed by a speech that had the crowd lightening up with her jibes at the powers that be. And then she was off to another protest.

In March, News Trail had a women’s day function where the newspaper chose to felicitate Akkai along with other woman changemakers. It happened to be the same day that Rahul Gandhi was in the city. But the lady was clear - she may get delayed - but come she will. Our function was going on in its usual way and suddenly there was a buzz and the compere announced the latecomer who glided in, collected her award to cheers, regaled us with a song, and then vanished. Yes, that was Akkai.

Maya says that though she felt she knew Akkai well enough, reading the book revealed a new facet. “The book is honest, it doesn’t shy away from talks about the diversity of opinions and divisions among people struggling towards the same goal.”

Akkai’s fight for her rights and questioning society is an endless quest. “You have to fight for your dignity. That cannot be compromised – my rights as an individual are granted to me by the state. I just had to claim them.”