Trans Inclusion...Served Hot and Fresh

Spaces like Bambai Nazariya in Mumbai and Pride Café in Bengaluru are providing employment opportunities to transgenders to smash stereotypes

- Haima Deshpande

THREE prominent posters at the entrance of Bambai Nazariya, a café in Andheri, Mumbai, that has provided employment to people from the transgender community, elaborate on the term ‘Kinnar’, a colloquial term used for transgenders. Interesting facts busting the various myths around the community are also scribbled on the menu card, in tiny notes that are kept on each table and on the unmissable blackboard in one corner.

The aim of the café, situated on a quaint lane, is to offer people a space where they can interact with transgender employees, understand them, or befriend them. The larger aim, of course, is inclusion. And this is being done at the café in a non-preachy manner. The simplicity and the interesting and fun decor are proof.

The beautiful name board in pink and the green wooden frames covered with a transparent sheet to protect them from Mumbai rain welcomes the customers. For those who have lived in Bombay before it became Mumbai, Bambai Nazariya defines nostalgia. For those who are new to the city, this café is a tour back in time.

God is in the details—the table with its green chequered cloth, the mismatched glass jars with “kiss me” chocolates in bright red wrappers, the painted kettle, the gramophone in one corner, walls adorning with posters of ‘Umrao Jaan’ , Rekha and the iconic image of Dilip Kumar and Madhubala in Mughal-e-Azam give the place a very Irani Café vibe, something that has been purposefully done.

Over 95 per cent of the things in Bambai Nazariya are from a