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We just speak from the mouth. Hijras aren’t counted [in the polis] as women, after all. Hijras are just hijras, and women are just women. If there’s a woman, she’ll at least have a little śarm [‘shame’]. But compared to the hijras, how open can a woman be? No matter how openly a woman walks, she’11 still have a little śarm. But hijras are just hijras. They have no śarm. They’ll say whatever they have to say. (personal communica-tion, Sulekha, Spring 1993, my translation)