The Invisibles: A Tale of the Eunuchs of India - Softcover

Jaffrey, Zia

Softcover

ISBN 10: 067974228X ISBN 13: 9780679742289

Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1998

Synopsis

In this superb work of investigative reporting, Zia Jaffrey pursues the riddle of India's most elusive subculture, the cross-dressing and often-castrated figures known as "hijras" whose very name means neither male nor female. Are the hijras lucky or dangerous? Are they a nurturing community of outcasts or a criminal network that kidnaps and mutilates recruits? Do they number in the thousands or in the millions? As she talks with policemen, a unionizer of eunuchs, and with the hijras themselves, Jaffrey unravels veils of rumor and deception to locate the nature of our sexual and social thresholds, and the people who dwell on them. Deeply resonant, uniquely insightful, The Invisibles is an enthralling work.
"A magnificent journey. Jaffrey writes about this fascinating and delicate subject with human understanding and warmth."--Ryszard Kapuscinski
"Sensitively written...eloquent...and compassionate."--New York Times Book Review

About this title

Review:

Zia Jaffrey, daughter of the well-known Indian food writer Madhur Jaffrey and heir to a hybrid Indian-American culture, found herself fascinated on a visit to India by a separate and extraordinary caste--the hijras, or eunuchs, castrati who dress as women and live together. Empathizing with their sense of otherness, she pursued the story of their semi-secret existence. The hijras have a long tradition in India, yet are regarded with great ambiguity. On the one hand they are invited to attend weddings and births and thought to bring good luck despite their crude behavior, bawdy jokes, and bad singing. On the other hand, there is much fearful speculation as to how they perpetuate their caste--some allege the abduction and castration of little boys. Jaffrey sensitively investigates these mysteries.

From Booklist:

Jaffrey, who lived in India for much of her childhood, had no intention of researching the borderline world of eunuchs when she returned to India to see family and study ancient philosophy, but somehow her ambiguous status as an insider-become-outsider and the unsettling sight of a group of raucously singing eunuchs at a wedding led her to conduct the singular quest chronicled in this captivating book. With the surprising (given the taboo nature of the subject) help of family members, Jaffrey meets with eunuchs, or hijras, in various locales and slowly begins to fathom their strange but invaluable place in society. In a dramatic mix of oral history and scholarship, she reveals the origins, protocol, rituals, and cultural significance of the eunuch community, tracking their long, complex history and intimate ties to royal court life and the caste system. Jaffrey gets right to the soul of this peculiar but enduring mirror-image society and sensitively conveys its inherent dualism: its union of pain and eroticism, secretiveness and conspicuousness, infamy and acceptance, pride and pragmatism. Donna Seaman

About this edition

• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 067974228X
• ISBN 13: 9780679742289
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 316