Eunuchs at their residence. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, July 6: Nargis looked forlornly out of the window as her partner, whom she refers to as her friend, philosopher and guide, counted her day’s earnings.

In the dim light of her bedroom, Nargis looked beautiful. Tall, fair, attractive, she could give a Bollywood heroine a run for her money. However, go closer and you will notice the rough, almost masculine features.

Nargis says she is a “woman trapped in a eunuch’s body”. There are hundreds like her at Noornagar in the capital.

“Sab hamara mazaak karte hain. Koi yeh dekhne ki koshish nahi karta ki hamare andar bhi ek dil hai. (Everyone jokes about us. No one realises that we too have a heart),” said Nargis.

After a day’s work, Nargis and her friends find solace in the dingy lanes of Noornagar, where they are not ridiculed, but accepted for they what they. “We follow a guru-shishya (teacher-student) relation,” said Annu Haji, the leader of a group of eunuchs.

“After me, one of my students will take charge. This is the most important aspect of our code of conduct. We have our own set of rules and cannot discuss it with outsiders. The majority of people have no knowledge about our lifestyle. They are ignorant…so they make fun of us,” she added.

Eunuchs have a wideinformation network. They attend social and religious ceremonies, where they sing and dance and in return get money. “This is our business…our main source of income. So we have to be alert. Every morning, groups of eunuchs move out to different parts of the city. That is how we come to know about the functions,” she added.

Annu denied that eunuchs get to know about the birth of a child through hospitals. “I have no idea what happens in other cities. But in Ranchi this is not the case. We have to work hard to earn a living. We have our own information network through which we come to know about child births,” she said.

The eunuch society is a great leveller, where there is no place for communalism. “There is no place for caste and religion in our society. We have several Hindus and Muslims in our group. But we have never given it a thought. We lead a harmonious existence,” Annu said.

“Why should we waste our time fighting over inconsequential things like religion and caste. Everyone, including our parents, has deserted. We find peace and solace in each other’s company. My group members are my family. If we all start fighting and killing each other in the name of caste and religion, then we will suffer, ” she added.

Annu Haji’s opulent bedroom is mostly filled with childless couples seeking her blessings. “There is a lot of power in our blessings. Our curse, too, can ruin people’s lives. A city cannot progress if it does not have eunuchs. Being born a eunuch is not our fault. God created us this way,” said Annu as she turned to speak to a young couple.