The school years were hell, Kalki Subramaniam remembers. Labelled a boy at birth, she didn’t “fit into her body” and just looking at herself in the mirror was an ordeal. In addition, there was relentless bullying by the other kids because she was too “feminine”. Just going to the boys’ loo was torture.

And, yet, says Kalki, she was one of the lucky ones who didn’t have to run away from home, who didn’t have to turn to begging or sex work and risk getting HIV/AIDS. She made a pact with her family to transition only after her two sisters were married. And she continued her education — a Masters’ degree through distance education — and is today the author of four books, two in Tamil and two in English; the latest out this past week.

To read We Will Not Be Erased: The Courage to Rise Above Hate, a collection of Kalki’s poems, notes, illustrations and what she calls, “very short stories”, is to ride alongside a journey of despair and........

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