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Sulekha’s use of the third-person masculine singular to describe the 78-year-old Channu stands in opposition to comparable descrip-tions by both Rupa and Megha, who, depending on the immediate context, refer to Channu by using either the respectful third-person masculine plural or feminine-marked adjectival forms, such as when they affectionately cali her mott^f valt^f [‘big* one*’] and budhf vali^{ [‘senior/superior* one*’]. Since Rupa and Megha are both related to Channu in the hijra family tree (Rupa as her dis-ciple and Megha as her grand-disciple), they are perhaps morę keen than Sulekha to show Channu both respect and solidarity, granting the other Muslims under her jurisdiction feminine reference as well. Sulekha, on the other hand, displeased with her own ‘smallness’ relative to these Muslim hij ras, refuses the entire community any acknowledgement of femininity, whether it be linguistic or anatomical.