‘Proud Restaurant Owner But Society Sees Me as Transgender First’

Urooz runs a small restaurant in Noida, UP.

(Photo: The Quint/Shruti Mathur)

Video Editor: Puneet Bhatia
Video Producer: Aastha Gulati

My name is Urooz Hussain, a 27-year-old from a small town in Bihar. I am a restaurant owner, a social worker, and an entrepreneur. Unfortunately, when people look at me, I get teased and commented upon. Why? Because I am a transwoman.

I own a restaurant in Noida called Street Temptation. I am the co-founder of ‘I Love Noida’ as well; but transgenders are stigmatised so much that people refuse to see me as anything else. They say a typical thing about us, ie we beg, we clap and are sex workers. This is far from the truth. I am proud of myself for breaking the stereotypes by owning my own business. The reason behind this was because I was harassed wherever I worked previously.

I was born as a ‘normal’ child, a boy, but later I realised that even though I have a male body, I identified as female. I faced a lot of difficulty in overcoming this. Male relatives used to bully me a lot. My father is strict, he had created a boundary within which I could behave ie as a boy. This was not okay with me. I used to play with dolls when I was young, used to interact more with girls than I did boys.

When I was in 10th standard, I started questioning my gender. I was bullied by boys in my class as well, but my spirit was undefeated. I went on to finish my graduation and also studied hotel management. Finally, in 2013, I moved to Delhi and decided to start my transition, beginning with laser therapy.

When I was an intern, I faced a lot of harassment at the workplace. People used to tease me. I was troubled because of that and started isolating myself, thinking this was it.

I had similar experiences when I was employed at other places. People used to pass bad comments, which was demoralising. So, I start something of my own in hopes that other transgenders feel emboldened as well.

I hope future generations feel inspired by people like me and I ensure that any transperson who needs a job can work at my restaurant, they will not face harassment here and and can work freely and happily.

I would also like to request parents to educate their children against discrimination of those who do not fit into the male-female binary. If your child identifies as trans, support them so that they don’t go on the wrong path. If you will support transgenders, they will come out of the closet more easily. We are the same as you, like any other human being.

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