As the rays of sun emerged from the windows, the darkness faced its death and gave birth to the new morning. The world woke up to chase dreams and fulfil wishes while a teen looks into the mirror decked up in a black saree and matching jewellery. She washes her make up, removes her clothes and puts her wig in the cupboard. She takes an hour to take a shower, brush her teeth and shave her face. She gets dressed in a pants and shirt and looks in the mirror but doesnt find herself. She looks at man called Neel, her alter ego! For the world Naina was non existent and she saw the world through the eyes of Neel.
Naina, a 33 year old proud transwoman from Himachal Pradesh was at the crossroads of life when she decided to take the step of transitioning into a woman. Having a well set corporate job, bank balance, she was determined to take the step five years post her graduation for happiness. Support from family was close to nil with a handful of friends, Naina started living as a woman in 2018 and started her Hormone Replacement Therapy in 2019. Trading a 7 figure salary corporate job with a hand to mouth salary of a content writer was tough. She survived! In 2020, she qualified as a fitness trainer and has been working as a writer and a fitness trainer since then.
She loves photography, travelling and fashion. She still remembers when she had to drape a saree behind the closed doors of her home and couldnt even flaunt it. She has had numerous adventures when she was still exploring herself. She says “I was always attracted towards feminity. Skirts, frocks and dresses attracted me since childhood. Sports was my getaway and kept me sane. In college I was exposed to Orkut and Facebook that gave me an insight of the terms like crossdresser, transgender and others. I bought clothes, wig and make up with the savings from pocket money. Post college, I had the freedom to buy whatever I wanted, going wherever I wanted to and be whom so ever I wanted to be.”
Sarees holds a special corner in Naina’s heart and so does modelling. She prefers a saree over any other attire. She happened to see an advertisement on SuTa page of instagram about Glamour by Sara and the announcement of “Miss & Mrs Saree Queen”. She was hesitant at first, but contacted Sagarika who heads Glamour by Sara and asked if being a transwoman restricts her from taking part in this. Naina was ecstatic to get a positive response. She had a Virtual Audition where the Jury was very impressed with her nature and talent. Naina has always been a dreamer and will continue to be, which is why she deserved to be amongst the finalists of “Miss & Mrs Saree Queen 2021”. This could be her stepping stone to something great that she always deserved.
