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First published online October 7, 2025

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‘We Will Keep Clapping till the End’: Hijra Narratives on Their Taali

Pushpesh Kumar and Sayantan Datta [email protected]View all authors and affiliations

Volume 32, Issue 3

https://doi.org/10.1177/09715215251351409

Abstract
References

Abstract

The hijras are a hypervisible gender-transgressive community in India. Their hypervisibility is courtesy of their sartorial and ritual practices, a particular discipleship-kinship organisation, and liminal moments of public presence and assertion. One of the ways in which the public recognises a hijra individual is through the clap—the taali, which it sees as profane. In this article, we provide a counter-text against commonsensical notions of the taali by documenting narratives from hijra individuals and transgender women closely associated with the hijra subculture. In doing so, we demonstrate the role of this embedded and embodied practice in shaping hijra belongingness and resistance.

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