I feel like a butterfly, says Rose after becoming woman

Rose boarded a Bangkok flight on March 17 and came back as a woman after undergoing a sex reassignment surgery at a cost of $3,500 to transform into a woman.

“I feel now I have better brand appeal. Now I am India’s first sex change television personality,” said Rose on the sidelines of a press meet.

“I am a focused person. The only challenge as a woman I will be facing now is being approached by men,” she added.

It is now 50 days since she became a woman. “It is no more a double life. I am feeling like a butterfly. I am at the peak of happiness. I had dreamt of this day since my childhood,” Rose said.

A mechanical engineer with a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from the Louisiana Tech University in the US, Rose faced a gender dilemma at a young age. She spent her school and college years immersed in books.

Belonging to a middle class Tamil family, Rose was brought up as a boy and educated at two elite schools in Chennai. “After my education I decided to be myself. I understood that nobody can take away my degree and knowledge,” Rose said.
On the timing of the sex change, she said: “I wanted to become a celebrity first and then undergo a sex change.” She said after struggling a bit she got the chance to host a talk show on Vijay TV and later migrated to Kalaignar TV.

On her future plans, Rose said: “I have readied a feature film script based on the happenings in my life. The film will be made in Tamil and English.”
Rose does not plan to change her name. “Rose is a beautiful name,” she said and added: “I don’t want to remember my original name. That’s the name I want to forget.” Rose said she is happy to have played a significant role in bringing the plight of transgenders to the spotlight.