“We want to invite the rainbow community in Nepal to come out in the open and join our steps to get married as same-sex couples. We also want the global rainbow community to visit Nepal,” said Maya Gurung and Surendra Pandey, the couple that made history on November 27 by registering the first same-sex marriage in Nepal. Taiwan is the only other country in Asia that has legalised same-sex marriage. Returning from their honeymoon, the couple said they were promoting same-sex marriage not only for Nepalis but for the rainbow community all over the world with the help of an NGO called Mayako Pahichan (identity of love).
Born Ram Bahadur Gurung to Harimaya and Kul Bahadur Gurung in 1985 in the picturesque district of Lamjung in western Nepal, Maya returned 38 years later as a trans woman to register her marriage with 27-year-old Surendra. Several glass ceilings were broken in this marriage, including gender, caste and age and the local community accepted it and celebrated it with a lot of fanfare.
In the Gurung community there is a traditional folk dance called Maruni in which men dress as women. “I always used to be selected as a Maruni dancer and was taken to perform in Kathmandu, and while dancing I felt like I was a woman. But I realised that I was indeed a woman only after I ran away during one of the performances,” said Maya. She now identifies as a trans woman but has not changed her gender on official documents. Before becoming Maya, she worked in several restaurants in Kathmandu, making tea and washing dishes. Finally, at the age of 13, she started meeting people who had similar feelings as her and this was when she confirmed her identity as a trans woman.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 24, 2023 من THE WEEK India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 24, 2023 من THE WEEK India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Will Modi 3.0 Run Its Full Term?
The Narendra Modi government has a wafer-thin majority. Either of Modi’s partners, the JD(U) with 12 seats or the TDP with 16, can upset the apple cart. That was the condition of V.P. Singh’s government. It lasted 11 months. That too was the condition of Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s first government in 1996. That lasted 13 days. The plug can be pulled at any time.
Two missing from the house
We heard Narendra Modi during the poll campaign say, he had missed an opposition during his 10-year rule, and “it pains my heart”. The agony would have abated now. Janata-Janardan has granted him an opposition.
Stories from the Himalayas
I first heard of Looms of Ladakh when the pandemic hit in 2020. We were looking for artisans and artisanal cooperatives to raise funds for and someone had suggested their name. Fortunately they were well looked after by their founders, but I continued to follow their extraordinary work since then.
The feminist Souza
Janeita Singh's essays will soak you in F.N. Souza's art
Controversies minus commotion
Beyond the Hype lifts the lid on medical cases where overheated rhetoric alarms the uninformed
Who is the bigger heroine?
Suspended woman constable of the CISF Kulwinder Kaur suddenly became heroine no.1 in the eyes of millions. It was alleged that she had slapped controversial real life heroine Kangana Ranaut, the newly minted Lok Sabha MP from Mandi, at the security-check area inside Chandigarh airport. The video of the incident went viral as divided opinions jammed social media, with supporters of both women pitching in.
Animal charm
How stories from the Panchatantra, which recently got UNESCO recognition, became timeless tales with universal appeal
BIG IS BEAUTIFUL
The transformation of a young woman to one of the heaviest woman powerlifters in the world
Strong men do cry
Let's go home,\" Sunil whispered in my ears after playing his last international match and crying his heart out at the Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata. Perhaps he knew that I, and all others in the family, wanted him to continue, but what would make us happier is to see him spend more time at home.
Farewell, legend
Sunil Chhetri's determination to be counted among the best was rewarded by a stellar international career, evoking comparisons with all-time greats like Messi and Ronaldo
