Eunuchs or hijras have been an integral part of Indian society since time immemorial.

We usually find them at traffic signals or when they arrive at our house on any good occasion. It is believed that their blessings and curses are both potent.

Indian television is changing with time. In 2016 we saw many new concepts and one of the TV shows which got well accepted by viewers is Colors’ Shakti (Rashmi Sharma Telefilms).

The show narrates the story about a eunuch (kinnar) named Saumya (played by Rubina Dilaik). Another character from the drama which is well appreciated by masses is Preeto aka Kamya Punjabi. Though it’s a negative character, she is loved by her fans and often gets mobbed.

In a chat with Tellychakkar, Kamya spoke about her experience meeting eunuchs in her real life. She shared, “After being part of Shakti, my respect for them has grown immensely. We have shot with real eunuchs and their stories of struggle are so inspiring. The amount of pain they have is not even compared to half of our problems. They are not treated well on traffic signals and not accepted by the society because they are not like us. One thing I hate the most is that they are the bread earners in their family and are still not treated well.”

She continued, “When my car stops at the traffic signal, they all gather up and ask me to roll down my car’s window. They would start chit-chatting and request to click selfies with me. They also tell me that they enjoy watching Shakti and like my character of Preeto a lot. One line that I usually hear from them is ‘Bahu (Saumya) ko ghar se mat nikalna’ which shows that they follow our show rigorously.”

We asked Kamya to re-call a memorable moment with them and she said, “There was a eunuch named Asha who used to come at our house when I was very young. I used to get along with her very well. But one day my dad got angry on her and asked her to leave the place and she never came back again. I used to miss her a lot. But after that incident my dad started facing lot of financial crisis in his business. Till date I regret my dad’s decision for making her go out of the house. I truly believe that they have the powers to bless and curse someone.”

Quite a story…Kamya!