<p>Seling food on the streets of Kochi in Kerala was the means Sajana, a transgender person, had to eke out a decent living. However, resistance from a section of the society and neglect shown by the police forced her to stop her business.</p>.<p>This is not an isolated incident. Sheetal, a member of Kerala Transgender Justice Board, told <em>DH</em> that the society is not kind towards transgender community members who try to become entrepreneurs.</p>.<p>With Sajana's video where she shared her plight going viral on social media, state health and social justice minister K K Shailaja assured support to her. This was followed by many others who pledged support, including actor Jayasurya who offered to help her set up a hotel.</p>.<p>Over the years, Sajana did all sorts of odd jobs. With the lockdown hitting the livelihood options, Sajana, with the support of a few other members of the community, decided to sell biriyani on the streets of Kochi. However, the outcome was mental and physical harassment.</p>.<p>Sajana said that during the initial days, the business seemed good. That's when a section of people started harassing them mentally and physically. The police did not offer any recourse. Instead, they advised Sajana to set up a shop and sell biriyani here instead of on the streets.</p>.<p>With no options left, Sajana shared her plight through a social media post, which triggered social media campaigns to support her. "People ask transgenders to eke out a living through any decent jobs. But when we try to eke out a living by doing such jobs, this is the response that we receive... Out of the 150-odd biriyani packets we made recently, only around 20-odd could be sold," she had said in the post.</p>
<p>Seling food on the streets of Kochi in Kerala was the means Sajana, a transgender person, had to eke out a decent living. However, resistance from a section of the society and neglect shown by the police forced her to stop her business.</p>.<p>This is not an isolated incident. Sheetal, a member of Kerala Transgender Justice Board, told <em>DH</em> that the society is not kind towards transgender community members who try to become entrepreneurs.</p>.<p>With Sajana's video where she shared her plight going viral on social media, state health and social justice minister K K Shailaja assured support to her. This was followed by many others who pledged support, including actor Jayasurya who offered to help her set up a hotel.</p>.<p>Over the years, Sajana did all sorts of odd jobs. With the lockdown hitting the livelihood options, Sajana, with the support of a few other members of the community, decided to sell biriyani on the streets of Kochi. However, the outcome was mental and physical harassment.</p>.<p>Sajana said that during the initial days, the business seemed good. That's when a section of people started harassing them mentally and physically. The police did not offer any recourse. Instead, they advised Sajana to set up a shop and sell biriyani here instead of on the streets.</p>.<p>With no options left, Sajana shared her plight through a social media post, which triggered social media campaigns to support her. "People ask transgenders to eke out a living through any decent jobs. But when we try to eke out a living by doing such jobs, this is the response that we receive... Out of the 150-odd biriyani packets we made recently, only around 20-odd could be sold," she had said in the post.</p>
