Music helped her to come out of the closet

When she was 14 years old, Shakshi Harendran participated in a reality show to get rid of stage fear. Throughout the show, she figured out that she can also sing in a female voice. “But I didn’t have the guts to sing in a female voice in front of others. After listening to me singing, my elder sister encouraged me. I selected a song from the Hindi film Ram Leela and wrote the lyrics in Tamil and uploaded a video on YouTube. It went viral and I’ve been doing covers since then with my co-singer, Stanley Vincent. That was when I was coming out of the closet,” says Shakshi, a third gender singer, who has the unique capability to sing both in a male and a female voice.

The talented singer is one of the contestants in the reality show, Singing Stars. Also, she is the first person from the third gender to foray into the music industry. “I am acting and singing in three Tamil movies, but I cannot reveal more details about it.”

It wasn’t an easy journey for the youngster after she started singing in a female voice. She faced subtle and obvious forms of bias and discrimination. “Many commented that I am faking my voice but nothing really deterred me. Because I know that I am not faking it and it’s my voice. Initially, our plan was to do a single video and then stop. But we received a lot of positive responses as well that motivated us to come up with more covers. Throughout the process, we didn’t doubt ourselves — I’ve got a rare talent and there is no need for me to prove it to anyone else,” says Shakshi.

There are many from the LGBTQI community who have showcased their talent as a makeup artist, designers, models, actors and so on. “Rather than looking at us as the third gender, I urge people to look at us as human beings. We don’t want sympathy. Moreover, what I believe is that acceptance comes from within,” the singer says.

Talking about her experience of taking part in the reality show, she says, “I don’t think like I am taking part as a third gender. I am a woman and that’s my identity. Even if people are going to call me a transgender, I am proud of it. My friends always ask me how do I stay positive and confident. Well, I am my own inspiration and that’s how I found confidence.” Shakshi says that it’s important for everyone to be comfortable in their own skin. “Be bold and don’t get feared for anything. Fear is our greatest enemy,” she remarks.