THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Nadira Mehrin has added another feather to her cap by becoming the first transwoman to enrol for a second post-graduation course under the Kerala government’s transgender quota. At 22, Nadira is unstoppable and has dreams in her eyes. To her, education is everything and change can be brought in only through education.
Having enrolled for a master’s programme in theatre at the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady, Nadira says she is getting closer to her dreams and carving a space for other trans students.“I try to create my own space. I have always been independent and that has given me the confidence to face the challenges,” says Nadira, a native of Manacaud, Thiruvananthapuram.
Throughout her life, Nadira has proved that anything is possible. When she was all of 16, she understood that she did not identify with the gender that was assigned to her. When she was 17, she came out, and that was a highly stressful period, she says. “It was a time of crisis. I was kicked out of my home. And there I was, out of home with no means to even continue my under-graduate studies,” Nadira recalls.
But that did not stop her. The trans community came to her aid. Nadira continued her education without dropping out even once. She acquired a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication from AJ College of Science and Technology, Thonnakkal, and did her master’s in political science from University College, Thiruvananthapuram. And now she is onto her second master’s programme. She was the first in Kerala to take admission in the government’s transgender quota for her first master’s degree, and now for her second master’s degree.
Nadira says she chose all the subjects due to her deep interest in those topics. “One can usher in change only through education. I am very vocal about my identity. And I use it to achieve my rights wherever I am and carve a space for others who will follow suit, be it in education or any other field,” she says. Although she has still not been accepted at home, she is in touch with her family.
“They are happy that I didn’t end up as a failure and are proud of my achievements,” she says. Nadira believes that the world is her oyster and wants to try her hand at every opportunity life offers. So she does modelling, has been a newsreader, has acted in an anthology film and is now pursuing theatre arts.
“I want to make use of all the opportunities that I have,” says Nadira.