City transgender to represent India at global pageant

Winning the Miss TransQueen India, a national-level pageant, in 2018 was the highlight of the 29-year-old’s career. Now, Namitha hopes to add a feather to her cap with an upcoming performance in Spain this year.

“After winning Miss TransQueen, I was nominated as the brand ambassador of the pageant. However, I wanted to represent my country. I got in touch with the organisers of Miss World Trans six months back. After the audition process, I was the only Indian to represent the country,” she said.

However, due to lack of sponsors, Namitha is paying for her trip out of her own pocket. “My parents have also pitched in to help me. It was very difficult to get sponsors. People will sponsor Miss Universe, but not many will give any support to transgenders like me,” she said, adding that her parents are her pillar of strength.

Namitha’s first pageant was in 2015 at the Miss Koovagam pageant which was held in Villuppuram. After participating in the pageant, she got the confidence to set her sights higher – the Miss Transgender Chennai that would be held the next year.

“At a time, I weighed 120 kgs. I worked hard to bring my weight to 60 kgs. I didn’t lose weight because I was ashamed of my body. I lost weight because I noticed that all the girls in modelling were thin, and I wanted my career to go further. My beauty is within me, not in my body,” she said. Manish Malhotra may be her favourite designer, and she dreams of working with him one day, but Namitha wants her fellow trans brothers and sisters to see her on stage and get inspired.

“I’ve had a lot of highs and lows in my life. But my motto, and my message to other transgender people, is to never give up. We need to keep trying, until we finally succeed. I hope that they see me on stage and believe that I can do the same,” said the model. The competition in Spain is tough, but Namitha is bursting with confidence and enthusiasm. She hopes to speak with the other participants at the pageant and listen to their stories.

“I want to tell them of the adoption culture the community here follows. As many of us are abandoned by our families, we feel lonely and sometimes sink into depression. That is when other transgender people come in and adopt them, so that we have our own family,” she said, adding that she has adopted around 30transgender people.