Parvathy – The First trans postwoman in the country from Kollam
On November 12, 2022, Parvathy TS, an assistant branch postmaster at Rosemala in Kerala’s Kollam, received a letter from the Department of Post where she has been working for the past 10 years, addressing her as Parvathy. The letter announced that the gender of the 36-year-old trans woman from Kollam had been changed from male to transgender on her employment card.
Parvathy obtained her transgender identity card and Aadhaar card in 2017. She was forced to work with a male identity even after getting her trans ID card however, which made her subject to people’s judgements. “Every day, people would ask — if you are a woman, then why do you work as a man? Why are you not changing your gender on your employment card?” Parvathy recalled. This prompted her to write to the authorities requesting that her employment card carry the name Parvathy, and her gender be marked as transgender instead of male. She feared that what she would get in return would be a dismissal letter. But to her surprise, the postal department accepted her request.
Growing up, Parvathy constantly struggled with the feeling that there was something wrong with her, she said. “Even as a child, I knew I was a girl. I enjoyed wearing bangles, kajal, and other accessories. I was also more comfortable playing with and hanging around girls. The boys I knew were not like me. I was attracted to them, but never felt at ease with them. I believed I was the only person who felt this way. All of these confusing feelings made me withdraw into a shell,” she said.
She recalled the difficulties she has faced in life, including sexual abuse. “I hated physical education because neither girls nor boys would let me play with them. My teacher called me ‘pennalan’ (a derogatory word used to refer to an effeminate male) one day. From that day, I started to stay in the classroom during physical education periods. I became an introvert and began feeling insecure,” Parvathy said.
After completing her diploma from an Industrial Training Institute (ITI), Parvathy started to work in a petrol pump in 2009. She said that the job made her feel confident. She began interacting with a wider circle of people and began to react when someone made fun of her. It was during those days that she got an interview letter from the postal department.
Parvathy worked hard to get the job and learned cycling for it. Even after she got the job in 2012, she faced hurdles. Parvathy recalled that she had been on the verge of quitting on several occasions, as people’s taunts over her choice of clothing and her demeanour had taken a toll on her. “I decided to quit several times, but something held me back,” she said, recollecting the years before the Department officially acknowledged her as a trans woman.
