Transgender –the Victims in Mahesh Dattani’s Seven Steps around the Fire

Abstract

The play Seven Steps around the Fire revolves around the third gender, the eunuchs in
community and their struggle for existence. The play presents the transgender as a victim in society which
has fixed notions of his/her social status. It is paradoxical that these eunuchs on the one hand are seen as a
curse, an embarrassment on the other hand and are seen as a blessing when they sing and dance during
weddings for they bless the newly married couple to attain parenthood. So they are not completely banished
from society but they are viewed as objects of ridicule, mistrust and contempt. This paper highlights the
conflicts, dilemmas, insecurities, frustrations and fears of the hijara / eunuch community that is granted no
honourable space in society.