The Incredible Story of Padma Shri Manjamma Jogati

From a transgender beggar- suffering social exclusion, poverty, even rape- to the recipient of one of India’s highest civilian awards. Here’s an unbelievable account of the life of Manjunath Shetty aka Manjamma Jogathi

Manjamma Jogathi receiving Padma Shri award from President Ram Nath Kovind | Source: PTI

<p><strong>The Story</strong>&nbsp;:</p><p>The list of recipients of Padma Awards for 2021 awards includes a peculiar entry for India’s fourth highest civilian award. For Manjamma Jogati, after decades of emotional and cultural hardship, the&nbsp;Padma Shri is a big acknowledgment. Jogati has been working very hard&nbsp;to keep the art forms, especially the Jogati Nritya and Janapada songs, practiced in rural Karnataka, Maharashtra, and parts of Andhra Pradesh.</p><p><br></p><p>Manjamma, now in her 60s, was born Manjunath Shetty in Ballari, Karnataka. Shunned by the family for wanting to be identified as a woman, Manjamma not only survived a suicide attempt but was ridiculed before Jogati Nritya became her lifeline. In the midst of all her struggles, deprivation, social isolation, and even rape, Manjamma Jogati perfected the Jogati Nritya and Janapada poems-<em>&nbsp;Kannada language couplets in praise of multiple female deities</em>– among other artistic expressions. She became so skilled at these that, along with her, the art forms themselves rose in prominence as she adorned hundreds of stages, both within and outside Karnataka. In 2006, she was awarded the Karnataka Janapada Academy Award and, 13 years later, in 2019, she herself was appointed President of the institution, becoming the first transgender to occupy the position.</p><p><br></p><p>To a congratulatory message on Twitter, she replied saying,<em>&nbsp;“Human is human; there are no lesser human beings. Art is Art; there are no lesser Art/Artists…For many like me – Art itself is Life!”</em></p><p><br></p><p><strong>The Message</strong>:</p><p>As moving and inspiring the story may seem from above, it raises some tough questions for us as a society. Jogati was only the second transgender person to make it to the Padma Awards after Narthaki Natraj- a&nbsp;<em>Bharatnatyam</em>&nbsp;dancer- who won the same prize in the year 2019. The big question here is, after more than 70 years of independence, when the people of the Indian transgender community are finally making their presence felt, they are seen to be doing it only in their traditionally and socially assigned areas like that of dance, and other forms of art. What’s stopping them to make their mark in other fields like corporates or governance? </p><p><br></p><p>Ask to yourself, how many transgender people have been your classmates or colleagues? Probably none, if you lived in India.</p><p>The Indian transgender community also known as&nbsp;<em>Hijras</em>, has been subjected to one of the worst form of social discrimination practiced anywhere on Earth. They live in their own secluded parts of towns and villages where others hardly pay a visit. The mere sight of a transgender is ridiculed. They are forced to earn through begging and prostitution. Even basic life with dignity has been denied to them for years before things started getting a little better.</p><p><br></p><p>Transgender people got voting rights in India in 1994, nearly half a century after independence. They were formally recognized as a third gender only in 2014 following a Supreme court order. Finally, the Transgender Person Act came into force in 2019, which at least “on paper” provides for their greater integration into the mainstream. Although, the easy task of legislation is done (belatedly), the tougher task of their ‘actual’ emancipation is far from sight. Social stigmas still exist, and stereotypes remain intact even among the educated upper and upper-middle class.</p><p><br></p><p>While welcoming the positive changes, one should not forget the plight that the community has suffered for generations. Countless lives were forced into the misery of begging and prostitution. And the coming generation may be standing on the verge of misery because of our ignorance. We as a generation have the noble task to rectify the ills our society has bestowed upon them for years. Let’s come together and open our hearts, minds, and arms, to welcome the new generation of the community into the mainstream, to ensure that not a single trans-person gets to live the misery that the community has been living for generations.</p>