I, Ms. Rajani Nair

Sex change, I assume, must be a very expensive affair. I’m not interested in finding out how much it should cost for the simple reason that, I don’t think I will ever need it. I’m delighted to be born a woman and even more delighted to be living as one.

So what is the big deal?

The big deal is that almost everyone who calls up for the first time asks for a Mr. Rajani Nair. I have been living with this title of Mister, for God knows how many years! My bank thought I was male (in spite of writing FEMALE in big bold letters in the Gender column of the application form), so does Indian Railway. The Credit Card Sales Executives think I HAVE to be mister, or may be even Mr. Rajan ‘Saar’, the ‘i’ was a spelling mistake, you see!

So yesterday, I told the lady who wanted to sell Mr. Rajani Nair a ‘lifetime free credit card’ that she “just missed him. He died only 20 minutes ago. Would she like to leave a message I might pass on to him if I felt like?” I’m sure the poor woman was so confused and scandalised, but managed to say that she was sorry about the death and even muttered a ‘thank you’ before ending the call.

No, I was not named after the actor Mr. Rajinikant (I was born to very Mal parents who had no idea who Mr. Rajinikant was till my Dad landed a job in Chennai). I’m Rajani because I was born in the night - my maternal uncle’s ingenious suggestion. Sadly he is no more. I wanted to thank him for his splendid suggestion because I just realised how much I LOVE my name. Even I couldn’t have found a better name for myself. Of course, there are other meanings to my name which I found out a couple of years ago: Rajani, it seems, is a river in the epic, Mahabharatha, and Rajani is also another name for Goddess Durga. Now, that’s something!

Male me? Ha.