not just Your eyes but your EARS as well !

 

Hidden Stories! The Paul Episode!

I studied at a boy’s school. In the beginning 12 years of my life as a student, I was surrounded by boys. My school life was made special by the life in the ‘gang’. We were a set of friends who loved spending time with each other. We played, shared our food packets, and did a lot of mischief. During these years some left the circle and some others joined in. However, at the end of it all, I can say that we shared our lives.

It was only in college that I began to work, play, and study with people of the opposite sex.  In the beginning, it was difficult. I did feel shy, embarrassed especially when I was asked to dance with a girl. Nevertheless, as years passed by I got comfortable, though a few struggles remain. Even now at times, I feel shy and reluctant to take the first step it comes to approaching a girl.

I shared this little background of my life to help us understand that we are all growing and that it is our experiences in life that in many ways shape our personality. We discover ourselves and who we are in the process of growth. Can we come at a point in our life when we label ourselves?

My experience with people of the so-called different orientations began already during my school. Let me begin by sharing about one of my good friends. Let us name him ‘Paul’ though this is not his real name. Paul joined our little group because he failed to score the minimum marks to pass the year and hence he was detained and entered our batch. We welcomed him into our group. I liked Paul because he was one of those guys who always appreciated me especially for the fact that I was kind and loving to all my friends. As time passed by we began to notice something different in Paul. His mannerisms, his interests were too evident and were giving us signs of a different type of orientation, though we did not know much about things as we know now. Paul loved to play with dolls. He would express his emotions loud and clear always and what was more striking was that sometimes he would put on lipstick and come to school. During the annual day programs, he would love to play the role of a girl. Though we noticed this behavior we refrained from being judgmental however the other boys observing Paul began to tease him. The year passed by. We came back to school after our summer vacation. Days and weeks passed by I searched for Paul and I realized that he had left school. After a few months, I got to know that Paul had been adopted by the eunuchs of his area. It was only then that we realized that our friend ‘Paul’ was a trans-gender.   

This was my first real experience with persons of a different type of orientation as they have been labelled today. Years have passed by and I must say that things have changed. I did find some others like Paul however the question is : Is it right for me to say that ? Every story is unique and I feel that is true! Each one of us has a story but sometimes we want to end it soon. We jump to conclusions and label ourselves. As young people can we give ourselves some more time to know who we really are?