I am Revathi, I am Resilience

Writer and activist A Revathi, the central figure of the documentary 'I am Revathi', opens up about her life, her identity and society's apathy towards trans existence

- 

For A Revathi, a transwoman from Tamil Nadu, who has weathered rejection, violence, and endless questions on her existence, the act of naming herself is a matter of survival. Sitting down with TNIE, she speaks softly yet firmly: "When I say I am Revathi, I am telling the world that I exist. They cannot erase me, no matter how hard they try."

The documentary captures her journey with a rawness that lingers long after the credits roll. But Revathi insists this is not just a film about her - it is a mirror held up to society. "People think they know us, but they only know the stereotypes. My story is not only mine - it is the story of thousands who are never heard."

Revathi recalls her earliest memories as being filled with confusion. Growing up, she felt different, but there was no vocabulary to explain it. "In school, I was teased. Teachers ignored me. My own family looked at me like I was a mistake," she says, her words tinged with the exhaustion of recounting wounds that never truly heal.

For years, she lived a double life - one in which she was forced into silence, and another in which she secretly imagined the freedom to be herself. But the world outside, she says, was unforgiving.

"Everywhere, people asked me: Who are you? Are you a man or a woman? Why do you walk like that? Why do you talk like that? I was never allowed to just exist."

The film's title, "I Am Revathi", resonates deeply with her. She explains that reclaiming her name was an act of resistance. "When I chose the name Revathi, it was like being born again. That name carries my pain, but also my power. It is the name of the person I fought to become."

Her insistence on identity is echoed in the film's most powerful sequences, where her voiceover cuts through silence. Abhijith may have framed the film, but Revathi's words are its heartbeat.