Urvashi Butalia skriver i Granta om hijiran Mona som, om jag minns rätt, också utgör en av huvudpersonerna i Arundhati Roys nya roman:

These were Mona’s friends and neighbours, some of whom lived in the old city of Delhi nearby. Mona talked to everyone. Speaking to the men she became, or assumed, the male persona of Ahmed-bhai, and many of the men present addressed her as such. Speaking with the women she was Mona, or baji, or behen – all female terms. This quick switch from one identity to the other, and the ease with which she achieved this, was remarkable. Now she was Ahmed and now baji or Mona, and no one seemed to find this odd.