Red walls, real stories

It was the early 2000s, and Kottayam’s bus station buzzed with the usual chaos of vendors and passengers. Among the crowd, a group of seven transgender activists from Tamil Nadu waited for their ride home, exhausted after a spirited discussion at the School of Letters, Mahatma Gandhi University.
Among them was Kalki Subramaniam, clutching a local newspaper featuring their image for the first time. But as she read, insults swirled around them—men ridiculing their gender identity, forcing them to flee the spot.
Fast forward to 2025, Kalki, now a noted trans rights activist, recently hosted ‘Shattered Silence: Voices of Transgender Experiences at Kochi’s Durbar Hall.’ This time, the atmosphere was markedly different.
There was no mockery or harassment. Young and old alike gathered to offer solidarity and admiration for the vivid, unapologetic depictions of trans struggles.
The exhibition’s centrepiece was the Redwall Project, a gut-wrenching testament to transgender experiences. Handwritten notes and red-painted palm prints in six languages documented over 500 stories of harassment, systemic violence, and daily battles for dignity.
One testimonial recounts a harrowing incident at Thrissur’s bus station: “I was berated and beat- en by the police just for waiting for a bus. It took a month to recover, physically and emotionally.
Nobody came to fetch me back to my hostel. That loneliness—it wounded me deeply,” wrote a transgender woman. The exhibition also featured AI-generated paintings exploring transgender identity.
A theatrical performance conducted as part of the show added another layer of raw authenticity. Directed by Kalki and performed by her childhood friend Prema Natarajan, Vila (The Price), an autobiographical play, reenacted real-life struggles. Prema, ostracized by her family in Coimbatore, was sold to an older transgender woman who led a group engaged in begging for survival.
“My family sold me for Rs 15,000 to a transwoman in Mumbai, whom we called Nani. For 20 years, I worked for her, seeking alms and giving blessings to those who donated,” Prema revealed during the performance.
In 2017, she managed to escape and return to Coimbatore. The play portrayed her attempt to reunite with her family, only to be rejected again, forcing her back to begging on trains.
“One day, I got a Facebook message from her,” Kalki recalled. “She called herself Silk Smitha because she loved the actress. We exchanged numbers, and I was shocked to hear her story. Since then, she has accompanied me.” Kalki’s activism is deeply personal, shaped by losses—friends lost to HIV and suicide.
These tragedies fuelled her to establish Sahodari, an organization working for transgender empowerment. According to trans activist and actor Sheetal Shyam Kalki’s involvement has been inspiring, and her public presence has brought greater visibility to Kerala’s trans community. Kerala, Kalki believes, has made remarkable strides.
“Tamil Nadu may have pioneered transgender welfare, but Kerala empowered us in ways others didn’t. It was Kerala that launched India’s first transgender welfare policy. Nowhere else does the govt support gender affirmation surgeries like here.”
Despite these advancements, the battle for equality is far from over. The transgender community in India still lacks basic rights such as marriage equality and adoption. “Now, I hear companies like OYO saying only married people can get accommodation,” she says. “What happens to transgender individuals and queer couples? These policies push us further into the margins.”
She also criticized the central govt’s ban on blood donations by transgender and gay individuals. “Why can’t we donate blood? It is a discriminatory policy that reinforces stigma against us,” she asserts.
Kalki’s vision extends beyond national borders. Through the Sahodari Foundation, she aims to build global alliances against transphobia.
“In many countries, trans rights are being reversed by right-wing governments. Even in the US, anti-trans policies are rising. We must unite globally to resist these regressions.”
Courtesy : TOI
Note: This news is originally published in timesofindia.com and was used solely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights