Motherhood Is A Behaviour, It Has Nothing To Do With The Gender Of A Person: Gauri Sawant

Shree Gauri Sawant, is a well known transgender activist and a role model to the community she belongs to. While the country knows of her as a champion of worthy causes there is another side to her: motherhood. She became a mother when life brought her to Gayatri¡¯s doorstep. Along with adopting a daughter, she has adopted her own community as well to provide the same love and affection she showers on her girl.

Gayatri¡¯s mother was a sex worker who unfortunately succumbed to the deadly HIV. Gayatri was only four years old.

Shree Gauri Sawant who travels through the lanes of brothels helping sex workers and transgenders live a healthy life, heard about Gayatri and immediately decided on adopting the infant. Their relationship was the subject of an ad that Vicks Vaporub directed.

It brought forward a unique theme: transgenders and their adoption rights.

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"Motherhood is a behaviour and it has nothing to do with the gender of a person," says Shree Gauri Sawant.

She continues to delve in to the dichotomy of her statement by mentioning that to care and to love someone means bathing in the pristine love of a mother. She had always dreamed of being a mother from a very young age and Gayatri has helped her feel complete.

When asked about what kind of a relationship she shares with Gayatri, a giggle escapes her.

"Gayatri is more of a mother to me than I am to her! She often tells me what kind of a sari looks good on me or if she likes my newly styled hair or not!"

They fuss over each other and these shared moments are much treasured by the mother-daughter duo. Unfortunately Shree Gauri Sawant lost her own mother at a very young age too, and has found herself giving the same love and attention to Gayatri that she had craved as a child.

The universe has often been caught playing with its beautifully curated puppets in the strangest of manners. This time, it brought two people from different walks of life together. However, a deeper understanding over a shared loss seems to have played an important role in their bonding.

While Gauri remains every bit Gayatri's mother, she continues to also be a friend and an ally to others around her.

Gauri Sawant

This friendship is cherished by many. The lives of transgenders are lonely, fraught with discrimination of all kinds and they are often ostracised by the society. A change is much needed and this is where Shree Gauri Sawant has stepped in.

In 2014, she made history and won respect for scores of transgenders in India. National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) accepted her petition and the third gender was officially recognised.

Today if you are able to choose the ¡®third gender¡¯ on something as common as an Aadhar form, you have Gauri to thank for it. However, her efforts do not stop here. She has filed a petition in the Supreme Court to allow transgenders to adopt in India and the judgement awaits.

The difficult lives of people living in the red light district of Mumbai are often overlooked by many. It is that part of the society where few dare to make a change. Shree Gauri Sawant is a strong beacon of light in those dark alleys and to souls that have resigned themselves to sex work.

Many of these women become pregnant, have children and if they are girls, they too, sadly, end up in the flesh trade like their mothers.

Sawant has just returned from the government hospital where she took a few people for their HIV test. We get talking and our conversation find itself leading to her foundation called Nani Ka Ghar.

Gauri Sawant

It is a home that aims to protect the children of sex workers and give a safe haven to elder transgenders who have no one in their lives.

The idea for Nani Ka Ghar came to Shree Gauri Sawant when she witnessed a child playing with her mother¡¯s dupatta while she was entertaining a customer in the same room. This visual left her disturbed for days and she decided to do something about it.

Armed with a mission and love in her heart, she started building Nani Ka Ghar. The word, ¡®nani¡¯ that translates to grandmother and so the name ¡®Nani Ka Ghar¡¯ instantly creates a feeling of love and security for people who probably need it the most.

Many children have felt the love of their grandmothers but there are quite a few who have never known the protective embrace of their nani either.

"¡®Har hijre ka sapna hota hai ki uska bhi koi parivaar ho," Sawant says with a tinge of sadness that opened my eyes me to the desolate lives of countless transgenders she meets everyday.

At Nani Ka Ghar, a sex worker can choose to leave their child for the day. It is a day care where love is showered on the child by hearts that yearn to nurture someone.

The transgender residents of this home provide these children with the love and warmth of a grandmother: they cook for the children, feed them and, most importantly, distract the child from the harsh reality he/she may otherwise witness at home.

The occupants of this loving home call Shree Gauri Sawant, their ¡®nani¡¯.

Extending her branch of motherhood in to other lives, but in a different role, Sawant supports her foundation with her own funds and has helped make a positive change in not only in the lives of people who come here but also in Gayatri¡¯s.

Today, Gayatri studies in a good boarding school and when she comes home, she is pampered by Gauri. She only wishes the best for her daughter and that is to have a safe upbringing and a healthy life moving forward.

In due time when Gayatri is old enough Shree Gauri Sawant hopes for her to take care of the foundation that she built, and take forward the legacy of a mother who gave her the life she deserves.

Illustration: Ranak Mann