When Manobi Bandyopadhyay, India's first transgender principal, found true love

From dancing to singing to even humming-all that runs on Manobi's heart and mind is Krishna.

Valentine's Day may have come and gone, but for Manobi Bandyopadhyay-India's first transgender principal-the gift of love hasn't stopped giving.
 
Her 14-year-long wait for love ended on 14th February of this year, when she found Lord Krishna. Yes, Manobi is taking a dip in the ocean of love of Lord Krishna, and now claims herself to be Meera in search of Krishna.
 
Dancing and singing various hymns in praise of lord Krishna, Manobi is one of the most popular transgenders who has been fighting for their rights for more than two decades.
 
It has been a long wait for her since she was separated from her partner in 2003. But Manobi never lost hope. And now she feels she is akin to Meera.  
 
"Meera's first two alphabet that is 'Me' and Krishna is our god. So 'Me' as in I am waiting for Krishna to meet him. Our life's consciousness is to meet with Krishna, after our life span gets over then I will be reach to lord Krishna. So, the 'Me' in Meera is not to keep arrogance," she says.

From dancing to singing to even humming-all that runs on Manobi's heart and mind is Krishna. Be it Bengali lyrics or Hindi songs, language is not a barrier for her to express her love for her deity.

It has been a long wait for her since she was separated from her partner in 2003.

Singing her songs, Manobi states: "If I ever get a chance to play between Radha or Meera, I will choose Meera. Because Meera's love is not a recognized one, and she doesn't have a picture with the lord, much like me, so I intend to became her!"

Also read: Manabi Bandyopadhyay, India's first transgender college principal resigns
 
She further explains, "It's been 14 years that I have turned into a woman, and I am waiting to meet Lord Krishna physically. I am trying to find lord Krishna everywhere who has given me certain positivity in my life."
 
"For Krishna I have devoted my body, my mind, my life-my everything," she remarks ecstatically.

Born as a boy on 23rd September 1964 in Hooghly district of West Bengal, she was named Somnath. 

But there was always something that made Somnath uncomfortable and feel abnormal in his own skin. He completed his masters in Bengal Literature in 1987 and M.PHil in 1991 with distinction from Jadavpur University.

It was in 2003 after being abandoned by his partner for the fear of social stigma that Somnath decided to undergo gender reassignment surgery. And so it was, after a series of operations and treatments that lasted almost an year, that Somnath became Manobi.

Manobi then completed her Ph. D in third gender in Bengali literature in 2005. Manobi is now the principal of Krishnanagar Women's College in Nadia district of West Bengal, where she strives to provide the best possible education to over 1,600 students.
 
However, the social stigma has always kept her on her toes to fight for her thought, her voice, and her existence.

"People won't accept a transgender so easily, but when I started worshipping Lord Krishna, things changed. Krishna not only helped me lead a joyful life but I also got recognition in the society. 

Vivekananda once said that a person who have no faith in himself is an atheistic person, So I believe in myself and I find Krishna within," she says.