Technoparktoday.com(Mar, 2017): Zara became the first transgender person in Kerala to get a job with a multi national company as she placed in the Human Resources department of UST Global, Technopark, Trivandrum.
Kerala is becoming one of the safest places for people belonging to the transgender community with them getting many privileges in the society. After the news on Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) employing 23 transgenders, UST Global and Technopark is setting an example by giving job to a person belonging to the third gender.
When she left her job in Abu Dhabi last year and came out in the open about her transgender identity, Zara Sheikha, was determined that she would not let life’s challenges weigh her down.
“After I returned from Abu Dhabi in August 2016, I attended many interviews in various firms. Though I could clear the interview nobody was ready to accommodate me as a transgender. I was done pretending to be male, so I wanted to work somewhere, which accepted me as I am. That is how my friend Prajit helped me get a job in UST Global. They said they were ready to give me a job if I passed three rounds of interview,” Zara says.
She says that getting the job was a dream come true for her.
“The company was ready to offer me a job accepting my transgender status. It was my colleagues’ behaviour that surprised me. When I went to office the first day, I had a sinking feeling as to how others would look at me. Breaking all those pre-conceived notions, they were happy to accommodate me and they all respected my identity. The company also informed me that I could use the ladies washroom and toilets, which according to me is a great acceptance,” she says.
Happy to witness the changes happening in Kerala, she said that they offer a new ray of hope for transgender persons. “Transgender police, schools for us, Metro Rail appointments, every new move is a hope for us and I am so happy about it. Let my job also set an example for other companies and make them accommodate transgender people. I am sure within a few years, the transgender community will be in the mainstream, at least in Kerala,” an optimistic Zara says.
Join TechnoparkToday.com to congratulation Zara for this great achievement and congrats UST Global for leading the change by examples.