People's Padma: Transgender folk dancer Manjamma Jogati shares story of her life's journey

President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday presented the Padma Shri to Manjamma Jogati, the first trans-president of the Karnataka Janapada Academy, for her contribution to arts.

Manjamma Jogati was fifteen years old when her family shunned her for being transgender. They never allowed her back home because she did not ‘fit in’. Abandoned and humiliated, she took to begging on the streets for survival.

She was sexually assaulted multiple times and, one day, attempted suicide by drinking poison. She survived but none of her family members, including her 20 siblings, came to the hospital where she was admitted.

Manjamma Jogati shares the story of her life's journey from being a runaway beggar to a Padmashri awardee.