Noori Saleem
Birthplace:
Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu
Residence:
Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Qualification:
Class 3
Inspiration:
Joseph Williams (Projects Director, Voluntary Health Services, Chennai)
A WOMAN OF RESILIENCE
A well-known trans-activist from Tamil Nadu and an HIV+ survivor, she tirelessly fights AIDS, especially in the transgender community. Strong-willed, outspoken and a mother to many abandoned HIV+ children, she has shown herself to be a woman of iron will. A woman of exemplary resilience, she has battled a life full of odds and steep challenges to emerge as a beacon of hope for her community and others.
From being alone on roads to being a mother to many, it has been one mixed-bag journey: of pain, hope, and more importantly, self-discovery and determination.
Her mother passed away while giving birth to a child; her elder brother died of chickenpox; her father remarried and her stepmother hated her for who she was. To begin with, this seems like a rather sad tale. But the takeaway of Noori’s story is simple: All’s well that ends well.
Born Noor Mohammed, a boy, there was an unmistakable femininity about her, right from childhood. Only after a great amount of difficulty could she join a school at age 10. And while she joined school late, she could just about progress to grade 3 that she left it.
While in school, she had to undergo a lot of harassment from other children, who made fun of the way she walked and behaved. They teased her often and many of her father’s friends complained to him about her behaviour. The neighbours would often tell her father, “We would have killed this child if he were ours.”
Her father used to beat her often. Unable to bear all this, at the age of 13, she left home and went to Madras (now Chennai). She did a lot of odd jobs there, washing utensils at people’s homes, begging, etc., to keep herself alive.
This continued for five years until she was informed of her father’s ill health – which she didn’t believe and didn’t want to visit him. She finally did go to meet him when persuaded. He passed away three days later and to her shock, her stepmother and brother got her engaged to a girl after getting a dowry of Rs. 50,000 and some gold.
“I was beginning to understand myself then; I was about 18. However, I didn’t want to create a ruckus there, and even went to the tailor and got measurements for my dress. The next day I picked up a few clothes and Rs.40, and left home telling my stepmother I was going to the mosque.”
She managed to reach the railway station in Chennai and took a train that took her to Mumbai.
From age 18 to 25, Noori made Mumbai her home, her main source of income being sex work and congratulatory work at religious ceremonies. During all this, she fell in love with a boy who worked in the Defence forces. His transfer took him to Chennai and she gladly accompanied him.
She bought a hut from whatever little she had saved and stayed in it with a few of her community members. She got herself operated on for gender change and insisted that her boyfriend marry her. They did get married soon but their happiness didn’t last long – he passed away sometime later. She has been missing him and his loving care.
Back in Chennai, her social activism took wings, as she talked to girls to get tested for sexually transmitted diseases and get medical care. She had once taken a girl for a medical test when she saw posters of AIDS and its dangers. As she enquired, she learned about its spread and its mortality rate.
Inner quest
Knowing she had had several partners herself, she decided to get herself tested. She remembers the date well. It was 22 July. The first round was negative. However, it was in the second test that she found out she had AIDS. The doctors gave her just about two years more to live.
She laughs recalling that day and says, “Who is anyone to tell me how long will I live? It’s been 35 years since and I am still alive with all my regular medication; in fact, those who told me I would pass away are no longer around.”
The positive test result, however, helped her recognise the dangers of the deadly disease and that she needed to help other transgender people as well as those living with HIV/AIDS. She decided to speak about it and came out in the open about her deadly disease with an interview in a newspaper.
“When I openly accepted this virus in me, my community members were enraged and even threatened to kill me. They felt it would seriously affect their livelihood. I explained to them that the whole purpose behind it was to let no other Noori contact or die of AIDS. That cooled them down.”
She grew to become the face of the transgender community in Tamil Nadu due to her social activism, and this took her to more than 26 countries including Canada, Japan, Australia, Uganda, Thailand, etc., as a public speaker on AIDS-related issues. While in Uganda, Noori says she had a run-in with the then Health Minister of India, Anbumani Ramadoss, and sought free supply of the antiretroviral therapy (ART) drug in India. She informs that Tamil Nadu later got its free ART Centre in Tambaram in 2008.
‘Don’t let the guard down’
She, however, laments that the governments at the centre and state have now taken their eyes off AIDS. The support towards it has been curtailed, which she says, is not right. “There are still children who are getting infected. Just because the awareness has increased doesn’t mean the AIDS crisis has blown over. Government funding has almost halved, though the disease hasn’t been eradicated – it never will be and continues to demand aggressive attention.”
It’s great to listen to her talk, and watch her work, as she creates awareness. Where did she get the inspiration from? She quips, “Dr Joseph Williams. He encouraged me to form a society. He helped me to be me and reach where I am today. With his support, I formed my own NGO called South India Positive Network.”
She elaborates: “We provide counselling for those stricken with AIDS and help them get better access to health care. We also conduct funeral services for those who die HIV-positive. One of my main aims is to counsel parents against abandoning children born different.”
She agrees some things are slowly changing and a lot more is needed. To create more awareness among the general public, she feels more workshops must be organised in schools, colleges, IT companies, corporations, etc. This is the way forward to a more inclusive society, she contends.
In 2005, she set up the SIP Memorial Trust, a home for children orphaned because of being HIV+. “I realised that the stigma around HIV was growing dangerously. Children were being abandoned and left to die for no fault of their own,” she rues. At present, some 40 children are at home and almost 100 have been helped.
Another of her dreams, she says, is coming true in Sholavaram, where she is facilitating a bigger home to accommodate nearly 200 children. “We have received private donations; bigger ones like HCL too have offered help. There’s light at the end of the tunnel, we just need to cross it,” says a smiling Noori.
She is called Amma (mother in many Indian languages) in the society – for a reason.
VISION FOR THE TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY
There still is a battle out there for the community, which needs to stay alert of the various dangers they face but at the same time, they need to stop participating in anti-society activities. “Sex workers, thieves, beggars are always shooed away by society, without a bias. Find a way to earn respect and a livelihood. There’s a way where there’s a will.”
MESSAGE FOR THE MAINSTREAM SOCIETY
It is not a crime to be transgender person. The media, social media, and like-minded people all have to come together to dispel fear and misgivings about the community. To the parents, she requests, “Don’t abandon them [their children]. We offer regular counselling and changes are now gradually visible. Some parents have come around to accept their differently born children.”
FIVE FACTS ABOUT NOORI
The protagonist in Tamil writer, Su Samuthiram’s novel, Vadamalli, is based on her.
Her willpower gives her the maximum strength.
She loves to have mutton.
She loves music, especially old songs.
She is a fan of actors, M.G. Ramachandran and J. Jayalalitha.
