Food truck run by transgenders is breaking social taboos, one dish at a time

Thursday February 08, 2018 , 2 min Read

Supreme Court of India ruled in 2014 recognising transgenders as third gender urging the government to make quotas for them in job, education among other arenas. However, still, there is a lot of stigma attached to being a trans person in the country. So much so that even one person from the community getting a degree or a job is considered a huge feat of accomplishment.

The only way to change the status quo and make the country inclusive is by bringing change from the grassroot level, through common men and women. This understanding is what led the students of Kumaraguru College of Technology (KCT), Coimbatore want to start a food truck run by transgenders.

Named ‘Trans Pride', the food truck is run by three trans women - Suchitra (an Indian cuisine expert), Taslima Nasrrin (social activist) who has loved cooking since childhood, and Yamini.

The truck offers anything from sandwich and frankie to biriyani and pizza. To buy food from the truck, people will have to interact with trans people. The hope is that this act of conversing with them might make people less inclined to stigmatise them and more inclined to accept them as their own. Talking about it to Covai Post, Shankar Vanavarayar, Joint Correspondent of KCT college said,

The society has to evolve to accept and give transgenders their due role and it is commendable that KCT students have come forward to share their expertise and time to solve social problems

Rotary club of Coimbatore was also part of the initiative and this truck is a trial run before trying to make it a commercial venture. In an interview with Times of India, Taslima said,

Students will get to know that transgenders too have talent and are capable to do a work if given an opportunity. Students will become leaders and policy makers tomorrow. If they get to know our capability, they will be able to take decisions that would help people from the transgender community