N.B. Nair
Muthu is the name of disguised Petchiammal since the age of 20 years. She lost her husband 15 days after their marriage. By then, she had conceived her child. After the death of her husband Shiva, she did odd jobs in her village Kattunaickkanpatti near Thoothukudi, earlier known as Tutucorin in Tamil Nadu, to eke out a living.
Petchiammal’s first regular job after the birth of her daughter was in a charcoal factory in Thoothukudi, where she was required to work in night shift also. She faced harassment from men at her workplace.
One day while she was returning home from work, she had to face a molestation attempt by a truck driver. “If men did not spare me, what would be in store for my growing up daughter,” she thought. And that was the turning point in her life.
After that incident, Petchiammal quit the job, purchased a dhoti and shirt, and went to Tiruchendur the next morning. At the Tiruchendur temple, dedicated to Lord Murugan, she tonsured her head. That was Petchiammal’s last appearance as a woman. She changed her dress to dhoti and shirt and transformed into her masculine avatar, Muthu. Muthu found a job in a hotel in Thoothukudi, where ‘he’ worked as a chef for seven years.
“I started smoking like men, and befriended men so that no one should have any doubt about my identity,” said Muthu. ‘He’ went through the discomfort of menstruation during work, so that ‘his’ co-workers did not have any suspicion. “I would swallow a couple of pills to cope with it and work harder so that nobody suspected,” said Muthu.
From Thoothukudi, Muthu shifted with ‘his’ daughter to Chennai, where again ‘he’ worked as a chef in an eatery. After three years in Chennai, ‘he’ went back to their village Kattunaickkanpatti with the 10-year-old daughter.
No one in the village recognised Petchiammal where she came to be known as Muthu. Muthu started working as a farmhand. ‘His’ brisk walk and brusque way of work made even men envious.
Muthu’s daughter Shanmugasundari, came to know about the real identity of her mother only at the age of 12 years.
Her daughter called her ‘Muthu Master’ as she could not address her mother in public. Shanmugasundari said, she is proud of her mother.
Petchiammal now 57, wants to remain ‘Muthu’ forever. “I want to spend the rest of my life like this and want to be remembered as a man even after death. It is this identity that gave me security and ensured a safe life for me and my daughter,” she revealed. “My name in the Adhaar Card is also Muthu,” she added.
Image: Petchiammal – Then and Now