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what is morę, that it is only hijras from low-caste backgrounds who convert to Islam. Moreover, she angrily complained that non-hijra Muslims are much less generous than Hindus when it comes to paying hijras for their song and dance performances: ‘Muslims will never give to Hindus. If a hijra goes to their door, then they’11 say, “Our door is polluted for forty days!” (i.e. there has been a death in the family).’

Sulekha’s distaste for the hijras in Banaras who have converted to Islam is further instantiated by her insistence that such individ-uals are not true hijras, but ‘men’. This proclamation is premised on her belief that the majority of Muslim hijras in Banaras have not undergone castration operations. For Sulekha, it is this event alone that serves as the defining moment of the hijra’s entry into femi-ninity - an event which, in her opinion, should be rewarded with a morę consistent use of feminine reference. In excerpt (18), she is clearly hesitant to give this consistency to Channu, one of the old-est and most prestigious hijras in Banaras, as well as to the Muslim hijras living under Channu’s jurisdiction: