OutlookIndia.com – Pushpa Iyengar on Rose
He was unhappy with his body. Now, more comfy in her skin, Rose awaits her TV talk show. …
“Being a star is not easy,” declares Rose, as she arrives fashionably late. Draped in a yellow sari and matching accessories with scarcely a hair out of place, she announces that she will host a weekly talk show that will discuss gay issues, sexuality, and other ‘taboo’ topics. It’s not just the subject matter of Ipadikku Rose (Yours, Rose) that is expected to make waves in this largely conservative city when it launches on the Star Vijay channel from the end of December. It’s Rose herself who seems all set to create a sensation in Chennai.
“I started out as a boy. But the body must have the same gender as the mind,” explains the 28-year-old, who ‘came out’ nearly four years ago to embrace her new persona. From Ramesh she became Rose, after a journey both tortuous and torturous that first saw her battle deep-rooted prejudice and outrage within her own family. Twice, she was thrown out of home—the last time in February 2007, when she won the Miss Chennai title in a beauty contest organised by Sahodaran, a gay group.