Agni in her classroom | Photo Credit: Thamodharan Bharath
Marakkah’s table is full of teaching paraphernalia. There are half-marked papers from a recent test, a red ink pen, many textbooks, registers, lunch bags and a water bottle. It might seem like nothing really separates this Tamil trans teacher from the rest of the educators at her school except her bright rainbow badge. “I wear it every day,” she says.
However, a look at her classrooms might help change this thought. Here, it is customary that when Marakkah enters the classes she teaches at Karthik Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Poonamallee, her students stand up to say: ‘Theendamai manidhaneyam atra seyalum perun kutramum aagum’ (Untouchability is inhuman and a crime). It is on the first page of the Tamil Nadu government’s textbook.
Her students also address her with the gender neutral term ‘teacher’ instead of the usual ‘ma’am’, ‘madam’ and ‘sir’. There are pictures of BR Ambedkar, Periyar and Karl Marx here. There is also active discourse about pride marches, caste-based violence in the State and the latest Supreme Court judgment, during the last 10 minutes of her 45 minute class.
Marakkah’s first introduction to her students was simple and straightforward. When she joined on the first day earlier this academic year, she asked everyone if they had seen trans people before. “They answered yes. Some said they had seen trans people on streets, begging. I told them that trans people can be doctors and engineers. They can also be Tamil teachers like me who have come to teach you.”
This teacher’s last few months have been far more stable than before. Now, she wears the clothes that she feels comfortable in, and is back to teaching after a turbulent few months of unemployment. She has nine years of experience in the world of special education but moved to this school in Poonamallee after facing discomfort and harassment due to her gender.
Marakkah teaches her students | Photo Credit: Thamodharan Bharath
Now, she enjoys the respect of her students and a certain closeness that she once only wished she could achieve. She is affable, seeks feedback from her students and believes that teachers must be responsible leaders who are deeply dedicated to their work. “My only problem is getting ready and coming to work on time. But when I enter, I am in the zone and I cannot wait to teach,” she says.
Marakkah is a published poet, a great cook and a person who enjoys dancing. She is in the process of setting up the Queer Chennai Library and is seeking book donations of queer literature for the same. When her students walk in, she looks to be kind. “A student told me that she liked it when I addressed her with the informal Tamil term ‘di’. It made her feel like I was her mother, she said. She signed her feedback form calling herself my loving daughter. It felt very heartwarming,” she says. Through the interview, she calls me ‘thangam’ — gold.
“I am also someone who cuts marks for spelling errors. Students come up to me and bargain for the extra half mark here and there,” she beams. Her kindness does not extend to the realm of correction. She is a strict teacher.
Catching fire
All of Agni’s students have seen her transition from being a non-binary person to the proud trans Physics and Mathematics teacher she is today. “When I joined earlier this year, I adorned garb that is traditionally considered to be that of a man’s. I came in and told my students that I was non-binary, giving them a brief explanation of the same. They didn’t really probe and soon through lessons and day-to-day interaction, the ice broke. On Independence Day, I wore my first saree and walked into school,” she says.
Agni and Marakkah | Photo Credit: Thamodharan Bharath
As she speaks, Agni has an air of confidence and calm that comes with handling several college students. Before moving to Karthik Matriculation School, she was a professor of mechanical engineering at a polytechnic in the city. “After teaching students more advanced science, I needed to come back and learn the basics. It was quite the challenge in the beginning,” she says. Agni however, has been able to manage, circumventing her transition and the challenges that arise from having been gender fluid.
Agni’s ideal classroom is one which is political. “The rise and fall of tomato prices could impact all of us. The idea is to ensure we engage and talk about what affects us in society. Teachers should not exist to vomit the words in the textbook and students are not there to listen. There needs to be mutual questions and answers,” she says. In her class too, there are pictures of Ambedkar, Periyar and Marx. There is conversation about gender politics and books too.
Agni is an author who has published her work too. She reads extensively and is looking to ensure that her activism, championing the cause and existence of the LGBTQIA++ community in India, is less hostile. She is also a model who enjoys keeping up with the latest fashion trends. MLA Thamizhachi Thangapandian is her fashion inspiration.
Agni and Marakkah’s common thoughts on politics helps them be great friends in school. “It also helps knowing that there is a sister who can empathise in a largely cis-het world,” she says.
Is Agni a strict teacher too? “No, not really,” she says laughing.
