I am a Woman and I am Proud of being one, both Inside and Outside!

Yes, I would say I am Lucky, especially when I come across women who are tainted by the harsh truth of our society, its stereotypical theories and mindset.

“You are a woman, you need to follow the rules! You are a woman, you need to save your virginity for your husband! You are a woman, you should not drink and stay late outside! And most recently, You are a Woman, You should Love only a Man! ”

I ask a question, who made the rule, that a boy should always fall in love with a girl or a Man should always marry a Woman. Shouldn’t it be a personal choice and why is it important for everyone in the society to interfere? Answering the society and breaking these stereotypical thoughts of the society is a brave TransWoman (a man transformed into a woman through surgery) who is also the writer of one of the latest Bollywood flicks – ‘Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga’.

A star studded cast and a story that is different from the social stereotypes, the movie that stars Anil Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao is attracting a lot of attention, for its story which is written by an equally interesting person, Gazal Dhaliwal a transwoman and also the brilliant screenplay and dialogue writer for several acclaimed movies such as Lipstick Under My Burkha, Wazir and Agli Baar.

This upcoming film is about a girl who has actually fallen in love with a girl, the real life story of several homosexual people across the world, who try to hide their truth from the society due to the fear of being socially boycotted.

But what really attracts attention is the story of Gazal who has written this beautiful script.

Originally a software engineer who worked at Infosys, she moved into Mumbai to pursue her dream of writing stories and dialogues for Bollywood films. But, Gazal has a past that is unknown to a lot of people.

Born in the wrong body, Gazal was originally born as a boy but with a soul of a woman. She liked everything that was feminine and played with dollhouses as a child. This change started at the young age of five. When her mother was out, she would dress in her dupatta and play all around the house, until one day her aunty saw and slapped her.

Growing up in a wrong body was equally difficult. Controlling her emotions, her feminine traits and being bullied by other kids in school, made her childhood dark. She was often called by names such as chakka for her girlish traits. At the age of 14 she gathered all her courage and spoke about her emotions to her father, who acknowledged her emotions but told her this was probably a phase which would pass away with age. But as she neared her adulthood, she was in an emotional turmoil, not able to fight her internal struggle for longer.

Gazal fell into depression and couldn’t cope up with academics. She fled away in a train to Delhi, but felt her heart telling her she was wrong. It was then that she spoke to her father about this never-ending phase which was now a part of her life. After this heartfelt talk, her parents became the pillar of strength in her life which further helped her complete her engineering and work for Infosys.

Her next dream was the transition, from Gunraj to Gazal, which she thought was difficult at that time. So, instead she went ahead to achieve her next big dream, write for the Bollywood Industry. She took up a film making course in St. Xavier’s in Mumbai where she did a documentary on Gender Identity where she met protagonists with a similar struggle as hers, but had gone through the gender transition.

She then made it a point to go for Gender Tansition and become Gazal. After the transition, when she saw herself, she just felt at peace, emotionally and physically. Today, Gazal has shared the biggest story of her life and feels like a complete woman, a Proud Woman inside &  outside. She is an inspiration to all who feel trapped inside the wrong body.

Story source: BetterIndia

Image Source: The Review Monk; Tarshi.Net