Against All Odds | From begging in Pune to studying law: Vaidehi Wadekar’s fight for dignity - The Indian Express
Before the law books, the uniform, and the responsibility of guarding a civic establishment, there were Pune’s streets for Vaidehi Wadekar. A transgender woman who once begged outside shops to survive is today a security guard with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), a second-year BA LLB student, and an advocate for transgender rights.
Wadekar’s journey began in Nagpur, where she was pursuing BTech. But college life soon became a daily battle. Her walk, voice, mannerisms, and body language drew ridicule from classmates and those around her. The bullying and lack of acceptance gradually made her realise she could not continue living in an environment where simply being herself invited humiliation.
Wadekar eventually left Nagpur and arrived in Pune with little more than the determination to start afresh. With no stable source of income or support, she began begging on the streets and outside shops.
“Unaware of the circumstances that were going to come my way with limited job roles in society as trans women, which down the lane led to begging, prostitution, and performing in functions, we are forced to earn and give a certain amount to the people who look after us and these cults. I wanted a different reality for myself,” she says.
Yet, for Wadekar, begging was never the life she wanted.
“I just wanted to be a woman and not a beggar,” she says, capturing the conflict between her identity and the circumstances she was forced to endure.
A chance contact eventually led her to an NGO, which helped Wadekar secure a job at an MNC. She worked her way up to becoming a team leader and spent nearly two years there. But when the administration changed, the workplace lost the sensitisation and understanding required to create an inclusive environment for transgender and LGBTQ+ employees. Wadekar chose to resign rather than return to a life where her dignity was negotiable.
Today, Wadekar wears a security guard’s uniform at the PMC and studies law alongside her work at SNBP College in Pimpri-Chinchwad. But her role extends beyond her workplace.
Wadekar works with the Pune police on sensitisation programmes, helping members of the transgender community understand their legal rights while encouraging wider society to look beyond stereotypes.
Her story is not merely about overcoming adversity. It is about reclaiming choices. From being mocked for the way she walked to walking into a classroom to study law, Wadekar has clearly turned the very identity that once made her a target into the source of her strength.
Kalyani Lad is an intern with The Indian Express, Pune.
