Slice of Life: ‘I hire transpersons because they lack job opportunities in society’

Chennai

Ever since my school days, I had wanted to become a make-up artist, but due to the compulsion from parents, I had to pursue engineering. After my graduation, I worked as a business analyst in a bank and later joined at a healthcare centre as an executive. In 2017, I took up a course on make-up in Punjab and set up a studio in Puzhal. There are so many problems when it comes to this profession. People have wrong impressions about make-up artistes. I have faced a lot of personal problems due to this. There were also some who reject marriage proposals due to this. Despite facing many issues, I have not lost hope because I am confident about my profession. I still manage to take myself forward in this society. I am also taking make-up classes and I offer it for free to transgender persons because they lack job opportunities. However, even after completing the course, they are left without a job as many parlours are not willing to take them. Even in my studio, the girls who are working are not willing to talk to them. The transgender persons cannot afford to start their own studio because all of them come from underprivileged background. I have decided to start another branch at Anna Nagar in February, where I have decided that all the workers would be transgender persons. We cannot push others. Instead, we can hire and give them a chance to exhibit their talent.