hijra: not to be confused with the muslim calender system also known as "hijra" (means migration in Arabic). There is a book out, i can't remember the name that gives a much better view of hijras than this one i found on the net... Hijra is often used in a similar sense as the word "sissy," though has a more negative connotation... so you see why none of the men rulers would want to be "eunuchs," and may feel the necessity for an explosion to prove their point.
altaf
EUNUCHS IN INDIA
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It has been estimated that there are at least a million eunuchs in
India. They are known as hijra, and make their livings as beggars,
prostitutes and by removing "bad luck".
Visitors to India can frequently see groups of gaudily dressed hijra
outside large railway stations. They beg for money and, if you refuse,
you will be loudly cursed and they will expose the area between their
legs where their genitals used to be. Many of them have also had this
area branded, so that at first glance they appear to be women.
The prostitution side of their income is interesting. They act as
prostitutes for men who can not afford the price of a real woman. Of
course, they are also popular with men who like transsexuals.
Removing bad luck also provides part of their income. When a house is
built, the owners will frequently employ a eunuch to dance in each
room to take away any potential bad luck. This is because eunuchs have
suffered the very worst fate that could befall anyone, and
consequently do not mind accepting a little bit more for a fee. Groups
of hijra also turn up uninvited at weddings and dance around the
guests, ostensibly to take away any bad luck that may befall the groom
and bride. However, it is an expensive matter to get the hijras to
leave, making this a lucrative part of their income.
During the last few years they have found a new way of making money.
In a crowded country like India it is very difficult for young couples
to have time all by themselves. Consequently, they find secluded parts
of public parks to cuddle and perhaps make love. The hijras search out
these young couples out and demand money to leave.
Most hijras are transsexuals who have had the operation voluntarily.
The operation is expensive and most have had to save up to have it
done. It is performed out of doors and a group of hijras will gather
to sing songs as the operation is being performed. The eunuch-to-be is
usually drugged and the operation is performed with one cut, severing
the entire genitalia. The person is then made to walk around for an
hour or so before being allowed to rest. Surprisingly, even though the
operation is done with unsterile instruments, the mortality rate is
small. However, when I was in India a few years back I read a
newspaper article condemning the practice because some people die as a
result of the operation.
An excellent book called "Neither Male nor Female" describes the life
of the transsexual eunuchs. However, it makes no mention of the boys
who are kidnapped and castrated by members of the eunuch community.
This is one of two bad aspects of the hijras.
If a child is born with any deformity of the genitals they are
destined to join the hijras, whether they want to or not. The hijras
will wait until the child is twelve or thirteen and then gather
outside the house demanding the child as theirs. Even if the parents
do not want to part with the child, they ultimately do so.
It is a risky business being a small boy living on the streets in any
part of the world, but especially so in India, as there is the added
risk of being transformed into a eunuch. The eunuchs gain the child's
trust by providing food, shelter and friendship. There are two
photographs of a fifteen year old eunuch (one naked and the other
wearing women's clothes), kidnapped and castrated by the eunuch
community, in the book "Sex Watching" by Milton Diamond (Macdonald and
Company, London, 1984).
I have visited India countless times on business and my interest in
the hijras began on my first visit in 1969 when I stayed in a large
hotel in Bombay. The man who took my bags up to my room asked if I
wanted a woman for the night. I was exhausted after a long flight and
said "no". He then offered me a boy. When I said "no" to that also, I
was offered a eunuch.
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