We are invited to a cultural evening of traditional dancing and music. The presentation is excellent. One of the two dancers dressed in saris can really shake some booty and is also quite the Amazon. With bulking forearms and prominent jaw, she performs balancing acts while standing barefooted on a pile of broken glass. I turn to Paula and whisper, "She's a man!" Later we learn that most of our fellow travelers agree.
Hijras are physiological males who adopt female gender identity. We Westerners might call them "gay". Who knows if Hijra has the same connotation. Wikipedia says of this behavior that it is "part gender-liminal, part spiritual and part survival". It appears to have originated with the Moguls and reminds me of the dark-sided underbelly of the movie, "Kite Runner".
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