Aging into (in)visibility: Tracing Hijra life narratives in Dayanita Singh's Myself Mona Ahmed

The most poignant challenges experienced by South Asian Hijras (the culturally marginalized transgender community in India that is associated with various rituals, roles, and responsibilities) are related to the lack of family support and discrimination due to their gender identity. Family support for the Hijras is usually withdrawn at a very early age, and it becomes even more devastating as they age, leading to their social isolation and causing them emotional distress. Predominant literature on the trans community in India focuses on the young queer body and the triumphant coming of age of trans individuals as young queer adults. In contrast, the representation of older queer individuals in literature is strikingly absent. This paper attempts to demystify the aging experiences of transgender individuals in India through a critical analysis of the landmark photobook of Dayanita Singh's Myself Mona Ahmed (2001) to gain insight about how they cultivate solidarity in the community to imagine a collective trans future. Dayanita Singh documents Mona Ahmed's journey of loneliness when her adopted daughter Ayesha is forcibly taken away; later, she has a falling out with her community, leading her to become an "outcast of an outcast." The cultural significance associated with conventional family structure and inter-generational bonds makes the estrangement from one's family even more devastating for the trans community. Through this paper, we will delve into the story of Mona Ahmed, an upper-class Muslim trans woman who is seen to be constantly oscillating between her identities and repeatedly trying to recreate a family as an aging transgender person.