Transgender who runs own school seeks to break through shackles of societal biases
Born and brought up in Delhi, Aditi Sharma had earlier worked as an investigator with private research agencies before shifting to Karnal and writing her own destiny.
Shattering conventional norms, 45-year-old transgender Aditi Sharma has been running a primary school near Hansi road in Karnal since 2015. When she is not bending over backwards to get society to accept her, she dotes on her three-year-old adopted daughter.
“The society judges us with disdain for our gender,” she says. “Our community faces unimaginable obstacles and stereotyping. There are several transgenders who have set a record in their respective fields in different parts of the country, but in North India, when someone asks what a transgender does for a living, they will reply that they either go door-to-door to seek ‘badhaai’ or are sex workers,” she rues.
“I aim to change this and be called a professional,” Sharma told HT, holding up a model of a plane she built using waste during the pandemic, for her students.
Spread over 1,000 square yards of land, Sharma built eight rooms and a beautiful garden of ‘Haryana Public School’ with few other basic amenities. She has her living space on the first floor.
Born and brought up in Delhi, she had earlier worked as an investigator with private research agencies before shifting to Karnal and writing her own destiny.
“It took a bit of time for me to come out of my shell and decide to become an educationist. To set a new example that transgenders can also establish themselves in the field of education and help kids from below the poverty line, I built the school. With the help of a few noble citizens, I started the school. The strength of the school at one point was 80 students. Right now, the strength of the school is 40 students,” Sharma said.
A graduate in sociology and postgraduate in cosmetology, she has performed all jobs at her school -- from cleaning toilets to working as a principal -- all due to financial constraints.
Several people, she further narrates, from distant locations including an advocate from Ambala, settled in Canada, donate monthly. However, she does face problems from her neighbours who create hurdles for the school. “I think they cannot wrap their head around the fact that someone like me can run a school,” she said while carrying her daughter in her arms in one of the classrooms.
“They don’t send their children to my school and that’s perfectly fine, but they taunt those who send their children here,” she said. Sharma feels the continued sting of the discrimination, “It took a lot of courage for me to raise myself out of the darkness of ignorance and indifference and it is a fresh struggle every time I have to deal with it.”
“There are still so many obstacles to overcome, and I just take a deep breath and keep at it.”
Sharma is anxious about the recent hires that she has made ahead of new admissions. “I recently hired a teacher and a cleaner for the school, but if the number of students does not increase, I might have to get back to both the jobs,” she added.
In a minor victory for Sharma, last week, the Haryana Human Rights Commission (HHRC) took cognizance of her complaint that she filed against the education department that has failed to grant recognition to her school.
Sharma claimed that she moved the application for a grant for recognition as her educational institution fulfils all the requirements, but despite that the authorities have failed to give the school recognition.
“I charge a meagre fee, sometimes as low as ₹50 or no money from those who can’t afford it. The school is run on donations and my savings for the children of the underprivileged. Getting recognition will help the school in many ways. Infact, there are several similar schools in the town that are of the size but are recognised. I can’t understand why recognition for my school is still pending,” she said.