Welcome to Clearing The Haze –Making the invisible visible, a podcast show that discusses topics that are usually invisible or just hazy. Hosted by Shachi Irde.

Shachi wears many hats and is passionate about inclusion. She is an industry recognized speaker on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and women in the workplace related topics. She has been recognized by numerous industry forums and has been recipient of “Iconic woman in leadership” award by All Women Economic Forum.

Our focus in this episode is Transman - A Journey to Oneself.

In our segment today we will be talking about a Transman’s Journey to oneself, a topic that has often not received the attention it should. For many it is a topic that has been hazy. Let’s get to clear the haze and get clarity from our first speaker in this episode.

Kirithik Shiva, a visually-impaired trans man, is a senior undergraduate in chemical engineering. His passions are music, coding, reading books and writing poems. He hopes for more awareness, conversations in the society and legal recognition for LGBTQ+ folks in the future and contributes by participating in sensitisation events in his free time.

Nandini Krishnan is the author of two books of non-fiction, Invisible Men: Inside India's Transmasculine Networks (Penguin Random House, 2018) and Hitched: The Modern Woman and Arranged Marriage (Random House, 2013). She has translated two of Perumal Murugan's books from Tamil, published in English as Estuary (Westland Books, 2020) and Four Strokes of Luck (Juggernaut, 2021). She lives in Madras with ten dogs, sixteen cats and several thousand books.

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Podcast Summary: Transman - A Journey to Oneself

Host: Shachi Irde

00:00: Introduction

Kirithik:

00:49: [Kirithik] About yourself. How do you define Transman? What are the societal expectations?

03:32: [Kirithik] Are you easily accepted in a “men’s club” after your transition?

08:45: What would your advice be to someone who is struggling with their gender dysphoria?

Nandini:

11:46: Tell us a bit about how you go about selecting topics to write. What were some of your idea when you started this project?

13:55: What is your opinion on a cisgender women’s legitimacy to write about trans men?

16:25: Have you received testimonials from readers of your book who found answers that helped them make the transition?

18:22: What can be done to increase awareness and educate people about trans people in general and transmen in specific?

27:55: What has been your experience being an ally?

32:19: Conclusion. Outro.

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For this episode, we would like to thank:

- Our guests
- The Alliance Française of Madras

-  The French Embassy, the French Institute and the Alliance Française Network in India for producing the show
and, special thanks to Hemant Soreng and his team for their advice and technical support.

Please do subscribe and review the show in various podcasting platforms and in the website afindia.org/podcast. Listen in to the voices that are often invisible but powerful enough to clear the haze.

Disclaimer: The views, experiences and opinions expressed in this podcast are personal views of the participating speakers and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the French Embassy or its cooperation network in India.