Little Sapphy’s eyes were glued to the screen. Losing this round of the video game would cut short her visit to her best friend Danish Bhaiya’s house. Danish had promised Sapphy that he would play with her for an hour more if she won at least one of the three rounds of their favourite video game. Sapphy had already lost two rounds to Danish and was about to lose the third one too.
The doorbell rang, disrupting Sapphy’s concentration on the game. Unfortunately, this marked the end of the third round—and Danish’s clear victory.
Danish got up to answer the door.
“Hi, Danish. Am I late? Sorry, I missed a bus and had wait to 15 minutes for the next one,” a male voice said apologetically.
“Hi, Abha! No worries at all. My friend Sapphy kept me entertained. I was about to call you, but it’s great that you made it before I did,” Danish replied cheerfully.
“Thanks! Mind if I come in?” Abha asked.
“Absolutely! It was rude of me not to invite you in earlier. Let me introduce you to my amazing friend Sapphy,” Danish said, ushering Abha inside.
Sapphy looked at Abha and was utterly confused. In front of her stood a person who looked like a man but was dressed like a woman. Abha was wearing a salwar kameez complete with a dupatta, and had a short beard like a man but long hair like a woman. Was Abha a man participating in fancy dress? But why was his name Abha, a female-sounding name?
“Sapphy, meet Abha. Abha is my friend from college. They have come to help me make some cool posters for the upcoming pride march.” Danish explained, introducing Abha to Sapphy.
“And Abha, this is my colony bestie, Sapphy. She is the coolest girl in the neighbourhood.”
Before Sapphy could grasp what was happening around her, Mrs. Chowdary chimed in.
“Sapphy, darling why don’t you go home? It’s getting pretty late. You can come and finish your video games some other day. Let the boys..”
“Ma,” Danish interjected with a stern look.
“I mean let these two friends get to work. Give Iffy my regards. See you soon, darling.” Mrs. Chowdary hurriedly escorted Sapphy out the front door.
Once home, Sapphy’s mind was still occupied with thoughts of the Chowdary household.
“Did you have fun with Danish, Sapphy?” Iffy, Sapphy’s mother enquired.
“I did, but something unusual happened,” Sapphy replied.
“What happened?”
“At Danish’s place, I met one of his friends. That friend was unusual.”
“Unusual? How so?” Iffat quipped.
“Danish’s friend looked like a boy but was wearing a Salwar kameez along with a dupatta. He also had a female-sounding name.”
“Female-sounding name?”
“Yes, Abha. Danish addressed him as ‘they’, not ‘he’. Isn’t that wrong English, Amma? And why was the person dressed like a woman?” Sapphy inquired.
“Ohhhhh,” Iffat exclaimed, as if a serious enlightenment had dawned on her.
Iffat picked up her phone and dialled Mrs. Chowdary’s mobile number, walking to the balcony to talk away from Sapphy’s prying ears.
After finishing her phone call, Iffat returned to Sapphy. She no longer looked puzzled; in fact, she seemed ready to educate.
“Sapphy, I will tell you all about Abha, but I need you to be patient and listen to me very carefully, agreed?” Iffat asked.
Sapphy agreed in a jiffy.
“Sapphy, what is your gender?”
“I am a girl. The cutest one out there.” Sapphy replied, flashing her toothy smile.
“How do you know you are a girl? Is it because everyone around you told you so? Maybe you are a boy like Aryan Bhaiya?”
“No, I am not a boy. I am a girl, like Devi Didi. I feel like a girl,” Sapphy declared defiantly.
“Is that so? Alright then. Abha was born in a boy’s body, but never felt like a boy. Abha identified more with the girls around her. So when Abha grew up, she decided to live as her authentic self. Now Abha identifies as a woman and uses the pronouns – they/she.”
“How did Abha know she is a girl? Did she want to be a girl so she could dress up like one? And what kind of pronoun is ‘they’?” Sapphy asked, genuinely curious.
“Alright. Let’s address one question at a time,” Iffat said, trying to comfort Sapphy.
“Like you are sure of being a girl, so was Abha. Abha didn’t want to be a girl just to dress up like one. Everyone has the right to dress up however they wish, regardless of their gender identity. Abha wanted more than just to dress up as a woman, she wants to be acknowledged and addressed as a woman.”
“Sapphy, humans are social beings. We are all part of society and how society addresses us is integral to our identity. A woman born in a man’s body wouldn’t be comfortable being addressed as a man, don’t you think? Everyone should be happy and comfortable in this world.” Iffat continued.
“Yes, everyone deserves to be happy and comfortable,” Sapphy replied.
“Acknowledging and accepting one’s gender identity is the least we can do to make them comfortable,” Iffat continued.
“Everybody deserves to be seen and accepted,” Sapphy mumbled, thinking aloud.
“Abha’s pronouns are they/she. ‘They’ is used because Abha doesn’t fully resonate with the pronouns ‘he’ or ‘she,’ but given her appearance, she doesn’t mind being referred to as ‘she.’ So, next time you meet her, you can address her as Abha, they, or she. Good?” Iffat concluded.
“All good for now,” Sapphy replied, lost in her thoughts.
The next day, Sapphy marched gleefully to Danish’s house, hoping and praying to see Abha there. Little Sapphy wanted to show off everything she had learnt the day before, but her mother had warned her to be mindful and not intrusive, considering Sapphy’s excitement about visiting Danish and Abha.
Fortunately for Sapphy, Abha was at Danish’s house.
Sapphy approached Abha excitedly but found herself at a loss for words to start a conversation. She realized that Abha was just like her, and showing off her recently acquired knowledge about transgender people might make Abha feel singled out and uncomfortable. Sapphy paused to centre herself.
“Hi, Abha! It’s nice to see you again. I’m here to play some games on Danish’s PlayStation,” Sapphy said, flashing her toothy smile as she walked over to the PlayStation.
