For a long time, my perception of the third gender was that of fear. Maybe it was coloured by their portrayal in films and stories I heard. They were supposed to be kidnappers of children, untrustworthy, dangerous and loud. Now I feel ashamed for believing those stereotypes.

In my early days in Mumbai, I cringed and avoided eye contact everytime a transgender approached me in the train or an auto. One day, I was travelling with my friend Sanjay Suri and a transgender person knocked on our window at the Juhu Circle signal. I was amazed to see Sanjay speak effortlessly. It was an interaction between two people with very different lives. I realised how narrow my thinking was despite being marginalised as a gay person.