My first encounter with a hermaphrodite was at my uncle’s house in Narayangonj near Dhaka where Khushi, his hijra servant, was the butt of my cousins’ many sexual pranks. Later on, I came to comprehend that Bengali society, despite being conservative, has traditionally tolerated the hijra’s ascribed dual role of flirtatious comic and spiritual being. Thus hijras are invited to perform at wedding ceremonies and to bless new-born babies. Yet there is a limit to how much they are put up with: They still live on the fringes of mainstream society as outcasts.