Partners

Payana

Payana is a community-led organisation based in Karnataka that works with non-English speaking, socio-economically marginalised, working-class, unique gender and sexuality identities such as Hijra, Kothi, DoubleDecker, Jogappa, Male-to-Female (MTF trans*) and Female-to-Male (FTM trans*).

Founded by members of these communities, the organisation combines advocacy, community organisation, and support services to address barriers to accessing health, well-being, and social inclusion.

Over the years, Payana has worked across public health, legal aid, mental health, and community support, with a particular focus on the working-class and non-English-speaking rural communities. The organisation has implemented targeted interventions with MSM communities through partnerships with public health systems, while also engaging adolescents, people living with HIV, sex workers, and members of trans communities. Its work is grounded in lived experiences and community leadership.

Alongside these efforts, Payana uses art and culture to create opportunities for dialogue and social change. Initiatives such as Truth Dream and Talki centre the lives and experiences of elder transgender persons through photography, storytelling, and theatre. By bringing these narratives into public spaces, they encourage reflection on identity, dignity, rights, and social exclusion while challenging dominant perceptions of transgender lives.

By combining cultural advocacy, community leadership, and rights-based engagement, Payana works to strengthen social inclusion and support community-led narratives and expression.

Project with MHI

Payana's partnership with Mariwala Health Initiative (MHI) supports the expansion of Talki to new cities, building on Truth Dream, a photography initiative centred on elderly transgender persons. Through theatre, visual narratives, and public engagement, the project brings the experiences of trans communities into wider public conversations.

In Talki, transgender individuals aged 55 to 65 years share stories drawn from lived experience. The performance explores identity, romantic and other interpersonal relationships, exclusion, belonging, and community while offering audiences insights into the histories, cultural practices, and everyday realities of trans communities. By placing the voices of trans elders at the forefront, the project challenges stereotypes and creates space for experiences that are often absent from public discourse.

The project also includes a contemplation and well-being workshop for the Talki team, providing an opportunity for collective reflection, peer support, and documentation of learnings. Alongside the performances, the project draws on Truth Dream to share the experiences and aspirations of older transgender persons through photography and visual storytelling.

Across performances, workshops, and community engagement activities in multiple cities, the initiative seeks to strengthen solidarity within trans communities and encourage conversations on gender, dignity, rights, and social inclusion. By using arts and culture as tools for advocacy, it supports community-led narratives and wider public engagement. The project also creates opportunities for dialogue between trans communities, civil society groups, students, and broader audiences across different regions of India.