"The stares start at the reception desk. The whispers follow you to the ward. Nurses call out the wrong name, doctors ask questions that have nothing to do with why you're there. People come to a hospital already frightened, already in pain, and we are all the more made to feel like intruders," she recounted. "That is why a day like today matters so much. It tells us we are not intruders but patients. We are people."

Soma was attending a health camp for the transgender community. Held on August 15, it was organised by Caregenix Clinic in New Town's BE Block. A dancer and social activist, Soma had mobilised many other transgender attendees to the camp, ferrying word that a safe, judgment-free space had opened up.

Over 30 attendees came from across the city and its fringes for services like BMI assessment, liver function tests, blood work and doctor consultations.

Lifetime of neglect

Another attendee was Sweety Shil, a makeup artist from Barasat, who shared her daily ordeal. "Something as mundane as using a public washroom becomes humiliating for us. I opt for the women's washroom but am routinely met with rolled eyes and sideways glances. I spend my days making others beautiful but have to fight to be seen as who I am, even in a washroom," she sighed.

Like so many others at the camp, Snigdha Karmakar's story was a slow accumulation of small, grinding denials - of employment opportunities that closed the moment her gender became known, of relationships strained and severed, of a society that has learned to look past her rather than at her.

Sunanya Das, estranged from her family for years, recounted how she was not even invited to her brother's wedding and was erased from a milestone that should have been hers to celebrate as family.

She used the platform to voice a demand for the need for an old-age home for transgender persons, along with basic government support - housing, healthcare, and a dignified safety net for a community that often finds itself with nowhere to turn as it ages.

There is also confusion on whether or not the community can avail of Annapurna Bhandar, the government scheme providing financial support to women across the state.

Long-term goals

Sreetama Ganguly, general manager at Caregenix, walked the floor all morning, checking in with patients and volunteers alike. "The healthcare system has failed this community for decades through silence and neglect. Today was our small attempt to say they belong in this room, in this file of patient records, just like anyone else," she said.

The camp was the brainchild of Dr Rahul Anand, founder and director of Caregenix, and a consultant in critical care and emergency medicine. "Every day I see how the fear of being judged keeps an entire community away from basic healthcare," he said. "We wanted to build a space where nobody has to explain who they are before they can be treated with dignity. Eventually, we intend to make this a regular fixture and not a one-off gesture for a holiday."