- Author’s note: Thanks to the anonymous commenter, who suggested the story idea here. If you’re the author of that comment, I hope that I’ve done justice to your outline and that you’ll like the outcome! Thank you, Anjali, for the many reviews and comments and bearing with me through multiple iterations!
- Also, note that there are two versions. The two versions are the same and have the same narrative till the climax. However, the climax is entirely different in the two stories and is slightly more drawn out in one version than the other. Be sure to read both! You can play ‘Spot the difference’ if you’d like 🙂.
Purnima walked out of the kitchen sweating. “The doorbell has rung twice. Can’t you get it?” She asked her husband, Sumant, who sat on the sofa in the living room.
Sumant just looked at her in a disinterested way.
Purnima sighed and dabbing the sweat off her face with the end of her sari, she walked to the door.
She opened the door just as the bell rang a third time and said, “Hey Tanuja! Wow, come on in”.
Tanuja walked right in and hugged Purnima.
“How are you?” Asked Purnima as she led Tanuja to the living room.
“I’m doing great. How are you?” Asked Tanuja in return.
“As good as can be expected…” Said Purnima.
As Purnima and Tanuja walked in to the living room, Sumant who was seated on the sofa looked up.
“Tanuja, meet my husband Sumant. Honey, this is Tanuja”.
“Oh, this is the famous Tanuja”, said Sumant as he got up and extended his hand.
“Hi”, said Tanuja taking it. “I didn’t know I was that famous”, she added with a smile.
“Famous around these parts for sure. I’ve heard so much about you from Purnima. Nice to meet you in person”, replied Sumant.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t make it to the wedding. It’s just that I was stuck in a photoshoot for a nightmarish client”, said Tanuja.
“That’s ok. Glad to have met you finally”.
Sumant made some small talk with Tanuja and Purnima before he took his leave and went inside the bedroom.
Tanuja’s eyes followed Sumant as he walked away. After he’d gone, she turned to Purnima.
“So, how is it going? What are you up to?” Asked Purnima eagerly.
“Oh, we haven’t met in three years, right? I think we met at Mahima’s wedding a little more than three years ago just a week before I left to join my new job”.
Purnima acknowledged Tanuja’s comment with a nod.
“Oh, let’s see. For the first six months, I was a temporary employee just doing photoshoots for the magazine. It was mostly road accidents, political meetings, protests… You know the usual crappy stuff. And then I got my big break. One of the photographers who covers fashion events called in sick and I was sent as the emergency stand-in. The fashion editor liked my work so much that she gave me a permanent job on the spot. I was there for a year and a half totally. The fashion editor is pretty famous and she got into a tiff with the editor. She left the magazine and moved to one of those magazines that is purely focused on fashion as the editor. She pulled me along with her. Since then, it has been a crazy ride. Visiting exotic places, photographing exotic models wearing exotic things… Sometimes even wearing nothing but exotic animals”, said Tanuja and giggled.
“Wow, that is pretty cool”, said Purnima in awe.
“So, what’s going on with you?”.
“Oh, just the usual”, said Purnima but Tanuja could sense something beneath her words.
“What is it, Purnima?”.
“Oh, what shall I say, Tanuja? When Sumant and I got married, he insisted that I let go of my decently-paying job as an associate lecturer and be a home maker. I agreed to it. About six months ago, in the economic downturn, he lost his job. He’s been applying for jobs but nothing so far. It has been a hard six months. I just found a job. Nothing like what I was doing before. If I’d continued, I’d probably be a full-time assistant lecturer now. But now, the college has no lecturer openings and I’m a lab assistant in the same college. I went and spoke to the department head and she’s promised me that she’ll hire me at the earliest available opportunity but who knows when that’ll come? The salary is measly but I desperately need it to run this household”.
“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that. Do you think I can help… Financially?”.
“What? Are you crazy? Money can come between friends. No, I don’t want to put you through something like that”, said Purnima resolutely.
“Hmm”, said Tanuja as she seemed lost in thought.
“Anyways, forget about my problems. You’re staying for lunch, right?”.
“If you insist…” Said Tanuja smiling.
“Of course, I insist”, said Purnima indignantly.
The three of them had lunch together. Sumant spoke to Tanuja in an animated manner and was generally cordial.
As Tanuja left, she told Purnima, “I’ll keep a look for any opportunities for you or for Sumant”.
There was no news from Tanuja after that for more than a month.
One day, as Purnima sat in the lab, mixing some chemicals, she got a call.
“Hi Tanuja”.
“Do you have some time to talk?”.
“I’m mixing some chemicals for a lab this afternoon. Once I’m done, I’ll call you”, said Purnima.
She called Tanuja back about forty five minutes later.
“What’s up?”.
“I have a solution for you but it is going to sound crazy…”.
“What is it?” Asked Purnima eagerly.
“Do you remember that I was observing your husband quite carefully when I visited you?”.
“Yes, if it hadn’t been you, I might have taken offense at the woman who was staring at my husband like that”, said Purnima laughing.
“Your husband has very classic features”.
“Classic features?”.
“Yes for a model…”.
“Wow, you think he’ll make a model?”.
“Yes, but perhaps not in the way you think…”.
“What do you mean?”.
“Sumant isn’t the handsome rugged type if you know what I mean”.
“Yes, I know that”, said Purnima a little annoyed at Tanuja for making an obvious point.
“However, he has classic features for a woman model…”.
“What? What are you suggesting?”.
“Hear me out, Purnima. So, I got to know this woman who’s been running a magazine. The magazine caters to a certain market. It is a burgeoning market. Crossdressers. The magazine covers all things crossdressing including fashion. She’s looking for men and women who can model clothing for crossdressers. She was in an adjacent seat on one of my flights. We started chatting and I told her of what I do. She offered me a contract job. It was while discussing the job that I got to know what she does. I told her about your husband. She’s interested. She obviously wants to see pictures. She can’t take my word for it, obviously”.
“This is idiotic”.
“I know it sounds crazy but think of it this way. She’ll pay about fifteen thousand for each photoshoot. She expects that a model that is suitable will need to do about seven to eight shoots a month to begin with”.
“Wow, that is a lot of money”, exclaimed Purnima.
“Exactly, this is why I’m suggesting it to you. You said you were in dire straits”.
“That we are”.
“Think about it and call me back”.
“Ok, let me think of a way to talk to…”.
“No, do nothing of the sort. First, convince yourself that this is the right thing for you both. You need to be convinced of it. If you aren’t, it will show in your conversation and it will go nowhere”, said Tanuja.
“Fair enough. Give me a few days”.
Purnima just wanted to buy some time so that she could say no to Tanuja. However, two things happened back to back that forced Purnima to reconsider. The first was that their financial situation worsened because the water heater in the house failed. The electrician who came in quoted two prices – one to fix the existing heater and another to install a new one. Even though Purnima really wanted a new one, she didn’t have enough money in the bank to cover the cost of the new water heater. The second was something that Sumant did or rather didn’t do. Purnima asked Sumant to ask a friend for a loan – one that they’d return when her next paycheck arrived. But Sumant balked at it. He didn’t tell Purnima that he wasn’t going to ask the friend but rather dropped the ball silently. This enraged Purnima and made her see reason in Tanuja’s proposal.
Purnima called Tanuja back in a couple of days. “Ok, I’m convinced”, was all she said.
“Ok, now, I want you to find recent pictures of Sumant and forward them to me. About a dozen pictures”.
Purnima did as Tanuja requested. She sent the pictures the same day.
Tanuja got back to her a day later. Her message read “This is the response from the owner – ‘Wow!'”. She followed it up with a smiley.
Purnima called Tanuja immediately. “Do you really think this is going to fly, Tanuja?”.
“What have you got to lose?” Was Tanuja’s retort and Purnima could see both sides of it. On one hand, nothing might change and they might be in a deeper hole or their financial situation might brighten.
“Ok, I’ll talk to him… Do me a favor and send me a copy of the latest issue of this magazine”.
“How are you going to convince him?” Asked Tanuja.
“Leave that to me”, said Purnima determined.
The magazine arrived in a couple of days to Purnima’s office address. Purnima thumbed through it. She wanted to make sure that this wasn’t some shady magazine. The quality of the publication and even the models stood out to her. It was filled with articles aimed at the ‘average’ crossdresser both MTF and FTM.
That night, a Friday, after dinner, Purnima approached Sumant as he watched TV. “Can I talk to you for a few minutes?”.
“Can it wait?”.
“No, it is rather important”.
Sumant sighed and muted the TV. “What is it?”.
“Our financial situation is really bad”.
“Tell me something I don’t already know”.
“I came to know of an opportunity for you…”.
“Oh, really?”.
“Yes”.
“So?” Asked Sumant impatiently.
“So, it requires some… Adjustments from you”.
“Adjustments? Like what?”.
“Like this”, said Purnima and placed the magazine in front of Sumant.
“What is this?”.
“A magazine…”.
“I can see that”.
“…for crossdressers”.
“Huh?”.
“It caters to crossdressers – both the MTF and FTM kind”.
“That’s all well and good for them. What’s it got to do with me or our financial situation?”.
“They are willing to employ you…”.
“Why would a magazine want to employ a plumbing contractor?”.
“They don’t want you for your plumbing skills…”.
“Then?” Asked Sumant expressing incredulity with both his face and tone of voice.
“They want you to be a model”.
“A model? For what?”.
“For the magazine”.
“Why would a magazine that caters to crossdressers want me to… Oh no… What sort of nonsense is this? How can I do that?” Asked Sumant as what Purnima was asking dawned on him.
“Why can’t you?”.
“I’m a straight guy. I’m not some weird…”.
“Who says that crossdressers aren’t straight? You should probably spend some time reading the magazine. There’s an article on page thirty six that explains just that”, said Purnima cutting Sumant off sharply.
“Ok, fine. I don’t care. I’m not dressing in some funny clothes and that is final”.
“So my clothes look funny to you?”.
“You know that’s not what I’m saying…”.
“Listen, all it requires is for you to dress up, attend photoshoots, get paid and bring the money back home. You don’t have to go anywhere, do anything other than that”.
“Other than that? That is crazy enough. I… I will be the laughing stock of the whole town…”.
“If that is your concern, rest assured that no one other than you, me and your employer will know about your… Work”.
“And what of the readers who read the magazine?”.
“How many of them are you going to meet? Even if you do, they probably won’t be able to make the connection between you and and you in girl mode”.
“This makes no sense. We’re not that desperate for money”.
“We’re not that desperate for money? WE ARE NOT THAT DESPERATE FOR MONEY? DO YOU KNOW WHAT I HAD TO DO? I HAD TO TRY TO GET THE ELECTRICIAN TO FIX A FIFTEEN YEAR OLD HEATER BECAUSE WE CANNOT AFFORD A NEW ONE. NOT DESPERATE FOR MONEY? WE ARE ONE STEP AWAY FROM GOING BEGGING TO ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS OR MINE!” Screamed Purnima losing it completely.
Sumant immediately felt bad for her. “Sorry Purni” he said placatingly. “You know what I mean. I know how desperate our situation is but this is ridiculous. I don’t want to do it. I won’t do it. That is final”.
Even though neither Purnima not Sumant realized it, Purnima had slowly whittled down Sumant’s objections to the proposal.
Purnima looked at Sumant steadily for a minute. “Then you leave me no choice…”.
“What? What are you talking about?”.
“I cannot take this anymore. I give up on this relationship. I’m done”, said Purnima with finality.
“No, Purni, please don’t say that”, begged Sumant.
Purnima got up and walked away. Sumant looked after her as she disappeared from view into the bedroom. He thought he’d give her some time to cool down and then reason with her. After all, it made no sense for him to dress in women’s clothes.
To his shock, Purnima reappeared about ten minutes later carrying a small bag.
“What’s going on?” Asked Sumant.
“I’m leaving”, said Purnima.
“You’re not serious”.
“I am serious. I have to be. When my husband is not serious about our future, how should I react? Be carefree just like him and hope that things will improve on their own? No, I’m done. I cannot take this stress anymore…”.
“Please, Purni. Let’s talk about this”.
“There is nothing to talk about. You have to do something. You have to either do this or find something other job that makes you money. Status quo is not acceptable to me. You figure out what you want to do. I’m going to a friend’s place to stay the night. I think we need clear minds to think and staying together tonight will only make it tougher to get to any resolution”.
“I’ve left milk for you on the stove. Drink it before you go to bed” said Purnima just as she reached the front door. Without waiting for a reply, she turned around, exited the door and closed it behind her.
Sumant was dejected. He just slumped back into the sofa. He closed his eyes just to clear his mind. When he woke up with a start, he was shocked to find that the time was 1:15AM. He got up slowly and went to the kitchen and found the milk in the stove. Purnima always made warm milk for him at night because he’d had sleep issues and milk helped him get a better night’s sleep. He recollected it and his thoughts drifted to how thoughtful she was about him and his needs. He felt bad. He heated up the milk just a bit and took it back with him to the sofa.
He started to drink the milk and stared at the magazine. After a minute, he picked it up and began to read. He also noticed the pictures of models who wore designer clothes for the photoshoots. “Some of them are ‘pretty’. Some are ‘handsome'” he thought to himself. He wondered how he’d look in them. He laughed thinking that he’d probably look like a clown.
“What are these folks smoking?” He wondered. “If they are willing to pay me, then why does it matter? Most likely, they’ll kick me out after a trial seeing how ugly I look”, he continued to think. He ran what Purnima had said over and over in his head. The more he did, the more he became amenable to the idea. “If they’re going to pay me to do this, fine. I’ll be laughing all the way to the bank”, he decided finally.
“Purni, please come home. I’ll do it”, he texted at 3:15AM and went to sleep.
The next morning, he was woken up by the smell of tea. Just as he sat up, Purnima walked in with two cups of tea. She was all smiles.
She sat down beside him and offered him a cup. He stared at her. She hated when he drank tea without brushing.
“I know how hard this must be for you. I’ll help you in any way I can. This will be temporary. Just until I can get that lecturer’s job”, said Purnima earnestly. Sumant was not fully convinced. There were so many unknowns. He just nodded his head, not wanting to get into a debate right then.
“Ok, training time”, said Purnima as she took the cup from Sumant’s hand.
“Huh?”.
“You didn’t think you were going to just show up one day and hope that they’d take you, did you? You need to show your earnestness. You also have to show that you are eager to bag the job. Now, I’m going to help you so that you can do both”.
Sumant gulped. “What do I have to do?”.
“Get up and brush your teeth first. Your teeth are yellow from the constant tea and coffee drinking. From today, you’ll be limited to one cup of tea a day”.
“But…”.
“No buts. I’ve got a tube of toothpaste that has some special teeth-whitening cream. Use it to brush your teeth. Morning and night. The box says that there will be a night and day difference in a week”.
When Sumant was done brushing his teeth, Purnima came in with a razor that was pink in color and some shaving cream in a pastel-colored can.
“What is this?”.
“Spray this on yourself and shave your body of hair”.
“What? No..”.
“Did you take a look at the magazine? Did you see anyone looking as hairy as a gorilla in it?” Asked Purnima sharply.
“Hmm, this is only going to make the hair grow back stronger. You know that right?” Asked Sumant.
Purnima looked up in surprise. For the first time, Sumant was speaking sense. “I can offer something that will not do that. But it is going to hurt like hell at first”.
“And after?”.
“Oh, you get used to it”, said Purnima smiling.
“What is it?”.
“It is called waxing”.
“Waxing?”.
“Yes, you apply this sugar solution and then use strips to rip off the hair”.
“Rip off?” Asked Sumant in alarm.
“Hey, I do it every couple of months for you. Just so you know…” Said Purnima.
“Yeah, but it is…” Sumant started to say before he shut up knowing that he’d only dig a deeper hole for himself.
“Come on. I’ll do it for you”.
“Ow”, howled Sumant as Purnima ripped off the first strip. Purnima sighed and said “It is going to be a long morning. I thought men were supposed to be better at pain tolerance that women”. That shut Sumant up for a while but he was in utter discomfort.
When Purnima was done, she smiled at Sumant and said “Now, you don’t have to worry about hair for the next two months or so. You can just skip over this step and carry on with the others”.
Sumant took a shower and stepped out. Purnima handed him a bottle of moisturizing lotion. “Just apply this on your body. It will soothe all those burns” she told him. Then, looking at the lost look on his face, she said “How about you do it in front and I’ll come and help you cover the back?”.
Sumant nodded and got to it. The lotion smelled flowery. Sumant hated it but the cool soothing sensation meant that he just kept applying the lotion. “Purni, I’m done”, he called out.
Purnima came over and helped him apply it on the back. “That felt nice and soothing, didn’t it?” She asked. Sumant nodded.
“Now comes the hard part”, said Purnima.
“You mean this was easy?”.
“I mean emotionally…” Said Purnima holding out a bra in black. Sumant’s face visibly saddened and his eyes begged Purnima but she held it out resolutely. “Remember your promise…” She said.
Sumant got it from her and stared at it. Purnima came closer and showed Sumant how to hook it in front, turn it around and put the arms through the straps.
“Here”, she handed a couple of socks with grains in them and showed Sumant how to stuff them in. “They’ll probably give you high end silicone ones for the photoshoots” she quipped. Sumant didn’t care.
When Purnima held out black panties, Sumant asked “Why do I need this? I’m not going to be modeling them”.
“That is fair but they will give you some specialized stuff to make you look smoother in the front and more rounded in the back. I don’t have anything like that but I think you’d better get used to the difference”. Sumant sighed and stepped into them.
“Let’s start with a simple house gown”. She handed him one of those nightgowns that many women seemed to wear around the house. Sumant had no problem slipping it over his head and zipping up the front.
“Come” said Purnima and took Sumant by the hand to her dresser. “Sit”, she gave his shoulder a little push as Sumant obeyed without any reaction.
“I’m just going to trim your eyebrows a bit…” Said Purnima and then added “Just so that they are not unruly” to address Sumant’s alarm.
“Good that you shaved”, said Purnima and just used some foundation on Sumant’s face. “This won’t do a great job because you need some professional make-up artist to fix the beard problem but I’ll just do some basic thing for now”, she said as she continued to apply the foundation. She used some setting powder and then moved on to the lips. She used a pencil to line the lips and then quickly filled in some lip stain.
“Now we move to your eyes”. She used an eyeliner to define the eyes and then some mascara to extend Sumant’s already-long lashes. Purnima took a bindi and put it on his forehead. She stepped back to take a look and nodded with satisfaction. “Will do”.
She pulled out some plastic bangles from her collection and making Sumant extend each arm put them on. She also hooked a chain around his neck. “Can’t do much about the ears – yet”, she muttered to herself. She took some gel and slicked Sumant’s hair till she could part it the way she wanted to.
“Good, now take a look”, said Purnima gesturing towards the mirror. Sumant turned and saw the reflection in the mirror. He was stunned. He made a reasonably convincing woman already. With longer hair, he’d probably look even more convincing.
“Now come, Sumana. Help me in the kitchen”, said Purnima.
“But…”.
“No buts. You have a lot more to do. Including learning to walk like a woman. You have to move about and feel comfortable with your Sumana persona. Now, come”, said Purnima and not waiting for a response, just walked out of the room. Sumant sighed and followed.
As Sumant helped Purnima around the kitchen, an act that Purnima was thoroughly enjoying, she taught him how to move more gracefully when dressed as Sumana. She also taught him how to walk in a more graceful manner.
When they were done, Purnima said, “Would you be a sweetheart and set the table? I’ll go take a shower and come back”.
Sumant sighed and set the table and waited for Purnima to make an appearance. Purnima came back in about twenty minutes and they ate lunch together. Purnima even corrected Sumant’s eating and told him to take smaller morsels.
Purnima took advantage of the fact that Sumant was still stunned and took his help to clean the house. For dinner, once again they cooked together and ate.
When it was time to go to bed, Purnima grabbed a hold of Sumant’s hand and led him to the bedroom. She gave him a wet kiss on the lips once they were settled on the bed.
“What was that for?” Asked Sumant in surprise.
“For being such a sport”, said Purnima and smiled seductively. They had an amazing round of lovemaking that seemed to improve Sumant’s spirits considerably.
The next day was a repeat of the previous day except that Sumant wore a chudidhar suit with a translucent dupatta. After fumbling with it once too many times, Purnima showed him how to pin it to his shoulders. The night was a repeat of the previous night. Even though Purnima was really expressing her thanks to Sumant, it was helping cement a behavioral pattern for Sumant – an unintentional side effect.
The next morning, a Monday, Purnima got up early as usual and cooked for the two of them, did chores around the house and cleaned up before Sumant was even up. She left a few chores for him to do thinking to herself that she’d probably come back and do them herself. She asked him to dress himself in a chudidhar like the day before and try his hand at make-up.
Once Purnima left, Sumant thought about it. “Perhaps there is a shortcut. If I’m clumsy and do a bad job, Purni will realize the error in pushing me and stop it”, he thought.
And a shoddy job he did of himself too. Purnima noticed it but kept quiet. Sumant took it as a sign that Purnima was resigning herself to the fact that the idea would not work.
A week passed and Sumant was making almost no effort. That day, he decided that he’d remained dressed in his clothes and see Purnima’s reaction. Purnima came home especially tired after an argument with the head of her department that evening. She saw that Sumant was dressed in a T-shirt and shorts. In addition, none of the chores she’d left him were done. She flew off the handle.
“I’m overworking myself by going to work and doing all the chores at home. You… You cannot even take the effort to make an honest attempt. I’m done with this. I’m out of here”, she said in anger and went to the bedroom.
Sumant, who was expecting more of resignation from Purnima was taken aback. He followed Purnima slowly to the bedroom.
He saw that Purnima had collapsed in tears while trying to gather some clothes.
“I’m sorry, Purni”, said Sumant standing at the door.
“Does all of this look like a joke to you? Do you think I’d doing this out of some sadistic pleasure?” Exclaimed Purnima as she continued to cry and ineffectually stuff some clothes into her bag.
“Please… Give me another chance”.
“Why? Why should I?”.
“Because I’ll change”.
“How do I believe that?”.
“I cannot ask you to trust me. I’ve broken your trust. Watch me for now on. If I make a deliberate misstep, you can walk out on me. Because, from now on, I will make an honest effort”, said Sumant with seriousness.
Purnima stared at Sumant. Something in his face told her that he was being serious for a change. “OK, one chance…”.
“Thank you. Come, I’ll help you cook”, he said simply to Purnima’s utter surprise.
The next evening, when Purnima came back home, she was happy to see that all of the work was actually done and Sumant had indeed made an honest, if horrible, effort.
Purnima decided that now was the time to employ patience. That evening and every evening after, she sat with Sumant and made him practice putting on clothing, accessories, make-up, moving around and working around the house in saris and salwars.
The next three weeks saw Sumant progress to the point where he could to all of the things, except make-up, without error by himself. Purnima spent another two weeks correcting his movements before she declared him fit to go in.
Tanuja fixed up an appointment for an interview and a potential audition for a Friday. Purnima took the day off and went with Sumant. Sumant had butterflies in his stomach when he went in for the interview.
A receptionist showed them to the editor’s office. The name board on the door read, “Ms. Prachi”. An assistant waved them in after about twenty minutes.
Sumant and Purnima were shocked to see a woman who stood taller than Sumant by about four inches and was dressed in a shirt and trousers.
“Hi, you must be Mr. Sumant and… Mrs. Purnima. Welcome. Thank you for coming in”.
Sumant looked uncomfortable and Purnima just smiled.
“So, let’s see here. Ah yes, I saw your photos and was intrigued by the possibilities. You have a certain classical feminine beauty, Mr. Sumant”. Sumant almost started to object. “Please, I mean no offense. I just meant that in a matter-of-fact way. That in no way reflects on your personality or your fit to be a man”, said Prachi to assuage Sumant’s hurt ego.
Sumant calmed down a bit. “Please call me Sumant”, he said.
“Great. Sumant, see, each of us carries some resemblance to our parents or to others in our family. Usually, it is a mix of features from both men and women. That mix plus the hormones is what gives people masculine or feminine features and beauty. We all have a mix of them. Look at me. I’ve managed to receive more than my fair share of masculine features. I hated it as a child but have now come to embrace it in adulthood – not just figuratively but literally too. As you can see, I dress in what is considered men’s wear. I’m a crossdresser. But the fact of the matter is that it is much easier for me to pull this off than for a man to go the other way. Society will tear such a man apart by labeling him and calling him names”.
Sumant nodded in agreement while wondering where this was going.
“Heck, I know men who are crossdressers who, when dressed in women’s clothes and when feeling feminine will appear and act like demure women but when dressed as men, can be quite masculine… Even aggressive and dish out in kind if someone were to offend them. A man’s man if you know what I mean…”.
Sumant was already feeling a little more comfortable. Purnima, who was watching the two of them, thought “Wow, she is good. She’s boosting his self-confidence and reeling him in at the same time”.
“From the way you look, I’d think that you’re one of these men… I mean you aren’t a crossdresser yourself but I think you’d make a great model for us. If it helps you financially along the way, then all the more better, isn’t it?” Asked Prachi.
Sumant nodded vigorously. “And she’s done it”, thought Purnima.
“Oh, one last point. This magazine… I established it because I believe that there is an underserved clientele that is willing to spend but has no avenue to spend because almost all of the clothing and accessories are marketed for men or women and the fit… Isn’t quite right for this underserved clientele. That’s where I come in. It is my passion and I’m hoping that it is a hit business-wise but that remains to be seen. Almost all of the people who work here are crossdressers themselves or are supportive of crossdressing. Now, that makes it a very safe place… For you. I hope you will make it a safe place for others too”.
“Yes, definitely”, said Sumant agreeing with Prachi.
“Great! Now, I will ask one of our make-up artists, one of our stylists and one of our designers to help you for the audition. It should take about two hours. Let’s see how it goes, shall we?” Asked Prachi standing up. “Come, I’ll take you there”, she said and walked out of the door.
Sumant and Purnima followed Prachi through a few double doors before they arrived at an office which was occupied by three women.
“This is Maanya, one of our make-up artists. Sushma is a stylist and Vandana is a designer”, introduced Prachi.
Vandana was dressed like Prachi in a somewhat androgynous way. Maanya and Sushma were dressed much more traditionally in saris.
“Welcome”, the three of them said one after the other.
“OK folks. Let’s see what magic you can work”, said Prachi and taking leave, went away.
Purnima didn’t know what to do. “Ma’am, if you wouldn’t mind, could you wait outside? It could make your husband a bit conscious if you were here…” Said Maanya.
Purnima nodded and stepped out. She had some work to catch up on and she sat in a chair and worked on it.
“So, Mr. Sumant…”.
“Please, call me Sumant”.
Sushma smiled. “Sumant, are you ready to be transformed into…”.
“Sumana”, replied Sumant.
“Sumana, it is”.
Sumant looked just a bit uncomfortable and shrugged. “I think it is great that you’re all attempting to do this but I think this effort is destined to fail”, he said.
“Why so?” Asked Maanya.
“Look at me. How can I look feminine? How can I look like a woman? Let’s be honest. My wife tried to dress me in her clothes for the last few weeks. Yes, I didn’t look like a gorilla in a salwar, but I was unmistakably a man. You might all be wizards but…” Said Sumant hoping that they’d agree with his assessment and give him a free pass.
“What do you think, ladies?” Asked Maanya. “Challenge accepted?”.
“Challenge accepted”, said Sushma. Vandana nodded.
“Ok, Sumant. Here’s the deal. You’ve thrown down the gauntlet and questioned our skills. We’re forced to act now. Here’s the deal. We’ll work on you. At the end of it all, you look at yourself in the mirror, or better yet, when the photoshoot is done and YOU… Tell us if you look passable or not. If you think you’re not passable, we will eat our professional pride and tell Prachi that you’re not fit to be a model. How about that?” Asked Maanya.
“That is more than fair”, said Sumant sighing a breath of relief internally. “Perhaps, I can get out of this after all”, he thought.
“On the other hand, if you do agree that we did an awesome job, then you owe us lunch and you shut your mouth and cooperate with us in the future. We will not tolerate this disinterest and reluctance” Said Vandana forcefully. Sumant nodded thoughtfully. “Likely that I’ll be the victor”, he thought. He was so sure of himself.
“So, before we get started, we should let you know. I’m a crossdresser myself. Vandana too. Sushma isn’t”, said Maanya.
“So, you dress in men’s clothes?” Asked Sumant innocently.
“Wow, that is the most flattering thing anyone has told me”, said Maanya in her masculine voice. Sumant was shocked. He had no idea.
The three of them started to discuss face shape, body shape and many other things. It took about fifteen minutes but at the end they’d arrived at a consensus.
“So, we’re going to dress you up in a dress this morning. ‘Why a dress?’ You might ask. It is so that we can shape your curves appropriately. With ethnic wear, unless you’re wearing a salwar kameez, it is hard to shape…” Said Vandana.
“So, I’ll only wear dresses?” Asked Sumant.
Vandana giggled and said, “Oh, don’t worry. We’ll have you wearing everything in no time. Just need some shaping. If the audition goes well, we’ll give you some corsets to take home. You’ll get the shape soon enough”. Sumant gulped.
Vandana had Sumant strip down and saw that he was hairless and was wearing panties. “Great, you already have a head start”, she said and handed him a red bra. Sumant put it on without any instruction. Vandana raised an eyebrow. “My wife’s training”, said Sumant sheepishly.
Vandana handed him silicone breast forms and he inserted them into the bra. She took a few measurements, went into a store room and brought back a corset that she went about tightening with help from Sushma and Maanya till Sumant almost cried out in pain. “I cannot breathe”, he complained.
“Oh, you will be fine. Been there, done that”, said Maanya nonchalantly.
Vandana brought out a sleeveless flower print sheath dress in white with pink, purple and green accents. It went over Sumant’s head and zipped up to the side. Vandana took a step back and looked at Sumant critically.
“She’s all yours, Maanya”, said Vandana making Sumant blush.
“Don’t worry. We address each other based on how we are dressed. The moment you’re out of this, you become a he”, reassured Maanya.
Maanya took over and started to work in Sumant’s face. She did what Purnima had done but in a much more elaborate way. She was critical about Sumant’s shaving and quickly gave him a once over. “If ever you want to get rid of facial hair or body hair once and for all, let me know. There are these laser removers on the market that do a really good job…”. Sumant shuddered at the thought making Maanya laugh. “That detestable, huh?” She asked.
After the shave, she applied a concealer followed by a much better matched foundation. She set it with loose powder. “This will do nicely”, she said admiring her work.
She quickly tweezed some of the remaining stragglers in Sumant eyebrows and used a pencil to give it a high arch. She applied eyeliner and then an eyeshadow matched with the green in the dress. “It will look quite neat when you’re photographed even if it looks a bit gaudy right now”, she commented as she continued to work. “I’m not going to bother with mascara. I’ll just use false lashes. Once again, shows up much better in a photoshoot”.
“Great, now the lips”. She outlined the lips with a liner and then filled in with a maroon lipstick.
“Sushma, your turn”. Maanya handed off to Sushma.
Sushma took a hair net and expertly put it over Sumant’s hair. She looked at Sumant’s ears. “So, you’ve never had your ears pierced?” She asked. Sumant shook his head. “Can I?”.
Sumant had a scared look on his face. “No, please don’t”, he begged.
“Oh, fine. I won’t for now. Let’s see what tune you sing at the end of the photoshoot”, said Sushma smiling.
“Besides, let’s wait to see if we win the challenge first”, added Maanya.
Sushma added a couple of clip-on danglers that went with the dress. She added a brooch to the dress and a bracelet. She also added a single anklet that she added to Sumant’s right leg.
“Can you walk in heels?” She asked Sumant. Sumant, who was lost by how fast things were happening to him, just shook his head, half in disbelief and half in answer to Sushma’s question.
“OK, flats for now, but you’ll need to learn to walk in heels”.
“You’re talking as if I’ve got the job”, said Sumant trying to crack a joke.
“Honey, from where I’m standing, you’re a shoo in”, said Sushma giggling.
“Now for the piece de resistance”, she said with a flourish and brought out a wig with curly black hair that fell to just below shoulder length. She set it on his head and fiddled with it until she was satisfied. She asked Sumant to step into some flats and then led him to a full length mirror.
Sumant could not believe his eyes. Standing before him was a woman who was in equal parts stylish, sexy, alluring and elegant. He held his breath almost in shock.
“You’re a natural”, teased Maanya as she saw how ramrod straight Sumant stood in the dress.
“Can you take a walk towards me?” Asked Vandana. “Wife’s training?” She asked as she saw how Sumant’s gait had changed between before and now.
“Wow, even your hand and body movements and language are feminine”, said Sushma almost in awe. “You ARE a natural!” She pronounced.
“Let’s get the photographer and your wife in here”, said Vandana. She looked out of the door. Purnima looked up as she heard the door open.
“Come on in”, said Vandana with a smile. As Purnima neared, she added, “You’ve done a wonderful job with him”. Purnima smiled.
When Purnima stepped into the room, she stopped in her tracks. She stared at Sumant for a whole minute. “My god!” She exclaimed.
“She is a wet dream, isn’t she?” Teased Maanya. Purnima had to agree.
The photographer came in and asked Sumant to walk the ramp. All of them gave suggestions to Sumant which he tried to follow.
After about thirty minutes, the photographer said, “I need about ten minutes. I’ll see you all in Prachi’s office. Should be able to select a dozen to showcase”.
When the photographer left, Sumant asked, “Can I take it off now?”.
“What? No. Not so soon”, chided Sushma.
Sumant felt conscious as they all walked to Prachi’s office but no one seemed to care. In fact, a couple of people did double takes and one person even gawked. Purnima joined hands with Sumant and Sumant held on to her for support.
The photographer had a slideshow of about twenty pictures that he showed to Prachi.
“An unadulterated success”, proclaimed Prachi with a broad smile. Everyone in the room nodded.
“OK, you’re hired, Sumana. Here’s your first cheque”, said Prachi and handed it to Sumant. He took a look at the amount and stared back at Prachi. “Think of it as an advance”, said Prachi smiling. Sumant passed the cheque to Purnima who was just as shocked.
“So, what’s the verdict?” Asked Maanya to Sumant. Sumant nodded sheepishly.
“What’s this about?” Asked Prachi.
“Oh, nothing. A wager between us and the new recruit…” Replied Maanya. “Do you accept defeat?”. Sumant nodded. “Remember our deal”.
“Now, the next steps. We will probably need you to come in about twice a week for the foreseeable future. Is that OK?” Said Prachi.
Both Sumant and Purnima nodded dumbly.
“Great, we’ll see you next time then”, said Prachi. Then, getting a nod from Vandana, she added “Please check in with the three musketeers. They’ll have some things for you to do while you await the call”.
“So, how do the earrings feel?” Asked Sushma.
“Painful”, said Sumant as he took them off revealing welts.
“Now that you are going to be working here, will you let me pierce them?”.
“No, I don’t want to…”.
“Many men do it these days. It is fashionable even. What do you say?” Sushma pushed.
“I… I don’t know”.
Sushma made eye contact with Purnima and Purnima heard her loud and clear. “Honey, think about it. You wore those earrings for what? Fifty minutes? An hour? See how red your ears look? They must be really painful…”. Sumant nodded. “They’re also probably impeding blood flow. Now imagine… How long does a single photoshoot take?” she asked Sushma.
“Oh, a good three to four hours”.
“Now imagine wearing those for three to four hours. They will be positively painful. See even now they are sensitive to the touch” said Purnima touching one of the ears making Sumant wince. “I think it is a good idea, honey. Your ears will thank you even in the short run. Please say yes”.
“But, won’t it look odd?”.
“Odd to whom? You will be seen by these folks or me. They’ll be happy because you will be easier to accessorize. Me? I think it could be a game changer”, said Purnima smiling and winking at Sumant. Sumant thought for a bit. The last impetus from Purnima turned the tide for him. He turned to Sushma and nodded reluctantly.
“No one will notice or care unless you’re wearing something in your ears. Don’t worry”, said Sushma as she dabbed some rubbing alcohol and some numbing agent. Then, with a couple of disinfected piercing needles, she pierced each ear in turn taking care to mark the spot of entry beforehand. Even with the numbing agent, Sumant winced.
Sushma inserted some hard plastic studs into Sumant’s ears and told Purnima to change them to gold studs as soon as they got home to reduce risk of infection and to clean them as necessary.
As Sumant changed back into his clothes, Vandana handed two corsets to Purnima. Sushma handed Purnima a couple of pairs of heels, one about 2 inches and the other about 3.5 inches, for Sumant to practice in.
“Oh, one more thing”, she said and added breast forms. “So that she is comfortable in them…”.
Maanya gave Purnima some cosmetics that she’d used on Sumant and gave her a primer on how to use them.
When Sumant came out, he saw Purnima holding two large bags. “What is in them?” He asked.
“Stuff for you”, came the cryptic reply from Purnima.
Maanya helped Sumant remove his make-up and then they were on their way.
When they reached home, Purnima said, “You looked incredibly beautiful”.
“Really?”.
“Yes, really”, said Purnima getting close to Sumant. They started to kiss.
“Wait, before I forget”, said Purnima and walked to her closet and took out a small jewellery box. She brought it to Sumant and opened it to show the contents to him. In it were two small gold studs. The front of the studs had the pattern of a flower and measured no more than 6mm in diameter.
“These plastic studs are unobtrusive”, said Sumant.
“Yes, they are, but there’s a reason people prefer gold studs. They are less likely to result in swelling or in an infection. That’s the last thing you want”, said Purnima.
“OK, then fine”, said Sumant reluctantly.
Purnima slowly removed the plastic stud and inserted the gold stud in the left ear. It was super easy. The post went through without trouble and Purnima screwed it in.
As she did, she told Sumant, “Even if I forget, remember to wash and keep the area clean. It will prevent infections”. Sumant tried to nod while keeping his head steady.
On the right, it was harder. Purnima had trouble getting the post out on the other side. As she prodded trying to find a path for the post, Sumant started to tear up from the pain. Finally, Purnima got it through and screwed that in as well.
“I’m sorry, honey. I know that hurt”, said Purnima and kissed the tears on Sumant’s face. They continued where they’d left off and soon were making love.
Starting that day, corsets were added to the daily ritual for Sumant. He complained but that advance cheque had dulled most of his complaints. Purnima also started to have him walk around in heels inside the home.
After a few days, she started to show him how to apply the make-up himself.
A week later, Sumant was called back for a photoshoot. When he went in, Maanya, Sushma and Vandana were there to welcome him.
“So, this time, we’re going to have you model an Anarkali”, said Vandana.
“Which one do you like?” Asked Vandana holding up two sets of clothes.
“I get to choose?” Asked Sumant.
“Not always”, said Vandana smiling.
“The yellow and red one”.
Vandana laughed and said, “We have yet to teach you about women and colors, Sumant. This color is mustard. The dupatta is more of a dark pink than red”. Sumant shrugged. “All in due time. You will be able to tell these colors apart”.
Sumant, as usual, was already in panties. Vandana handed him a bra and breast forms.
“At your audition, we only did frontal shots. Now, we will do side and back shots too. So you need to put this on and then pull your panties up over them”, said Vandana handing Sumant a padded shorts-like garment. When Sumant put it on, he saw that the bulge in front also seemed to disappear.
The corset came next. As Vandana tightened it, she said, “You’ve been diligent. I can see that the corset has come down a notch”.
“Here you go”. The pants came next. They flowed more like a gown than pants and they seemed to be made of silk. Their sensation on Sumant’s shaved legs was exciting him almost to Sumant’s annoyance.
“It is a beautiful sensation, isn’t it?” Asked Vandana. Sumant blushed and nodded.
“Now, the top”, she said handing it to him. When he donned it, to his horror, he saw that he could almost see the bra. “Yes, you chose the one with the plunging neckline” teased Vandana and then quickly added, “You look great though. We’ll add the dupatta at the time of photoshoot”.
Maanya took over. She did Sumana’s face just like last time. When she started working on Sumana’s chest, she looked at Maanya in surprise. “You can use make-up to create the illusion of the cleavage”, said Maanya as she worked to contour the sides and then brighten the center. When Sumana looked at the mirror, she was amazed to see the difference. Whereas before, the neckline looked incongruous with her chest, now it seemed so seamless.
Sushma accessorized Sumana with the right ornaments. The earrings went on beautifully now that Sumana’s ears had been pierced.
“Have you been practicing with the heels?” Asked Sushma as she brought out a low heeled sandal. Sumana nodded. Sushma put it on her and asked Sumana to walk around. “Not bad. As you said Vandana, she’s been diligent”.
Sushma added the hair net and the wig. “Three months and we should be able to use your real hair and extensions. No more wigs”.
Vandana pinned the dupatta to the left shoulder so that it looked like it was just hanging off the shoulder.
The same photographer who’d taken Sumana’s audition pictures came in. He looked at Sumana in admiration. They setup the photoshoot. Unlike the audition, it took a lot longer as they tried to shoot with a green screen and very many poses. Sumana was tired at end of it all. “This is hard work. Here I thought that it was going to be an easy task”, she thought to herself.
When they were done, about three hours after Sumant had come in, Sushma asked, “I’m famished. Shall we have lunch?”.
“Yes, great idea”, chimed in Vandana and Maanya.
“I’ll go change”, said Sumana.
“Yes, you can do that but how about changing into something more comfortable than what you’re wearing?” Asked Vandana.
“Oh, I’ll change back into my shirt and trousers”.
“Do you have to go back anywhere urgently?” Asked Maanya. Sumana shook her head. “Then hang out with us for some time. We’ll get to know you and you will get to know us. Makes the working relationship much easier”.
“OK, let me go change…”.
“Can I suggest something?” Asked Sushma.
“Yes, sure”.
“We have a lot of clothes that designers give us that get used once and they don’t want them back. You can probably wear one of them for now. That way, you will feel more comfortable with us and we will feel more comfortable with you… Sumana vs. Sumant if you know what I mean”.
Sumant hesitated for a bit. “What have I gotten myself into? It looks like I’m digging myself deeper and deeper into this hole”, he thought. “But I told them I’d show no reluctance. And a deal is a deal”. He nodded and said, “One of you will have to help me”.
“All of us will help you”, said Maanya.
The three of them helped Sumana change into a nice cotton chudidhar suit. Sushma toned down the accessories and Maanya cleaned up the make-up to make Sumana look more natural.
“Alright, now I really have to eat”, said Sushma.
“The eatery across the street?” Asked Vandana. The other two nodded.
“Wait, across the street?” Asked Sumana flustered.
“Come on, girlfriend. If you’re with us, you will be fine. We’ll make sure that you’re safe, won’t we?” Asked Maanya. The other two nodded vigorously.
“Oh no. I can’t”, said Sumana.
“You’ve got no option”, said Vandana and they dragged Sumana out of the building.
After being conscious for half the meal, Sumana loosened up. This was great company and the three of them were extremely gracious with Sumana. They included her in their conversations and introduced themselves in more detail. Sumana did the same about herself and Purnima. Shamefully, she admitted how she’d come to take up the job.
When they went back, Prachi walked in. “OK girls, we have a winner. I showed the photos to the designer. She loved Sumana and how she modeled the Anarkali. She wants to do another outfit. Do we want to do it today or tomorrow?”.
“Tomorrow, Prachi”, said Vandana.
“OK, I’ll let her know”.
The four of them continued to chat for some time till it was 4pm.
Vandana said that she was heading home. She asked if Sumana needed a ride.
“You are going my way”, said Sumana, “but you will have to give me time to change”.
“Why? Just come as you are. Take your Sumant clothes in a bag”.
“What? No. How can I…”.
“I’m going to drop you in front of your house. You are just going to get down and go in. No one will see you. Even if they do, they’ll think that someone is visiting you. Now, come on. I’m getting delayed”, said Vandana not giving Sumana an option.
So it was that Sumana was driven home by Vandana. As Vandana pulled up to the gate, Sumana gulped and said, “What if someone sees me like this?”.
“Do you know your neighbors well?”.
“Not particularly”.
“Are your neighbors particularly nosy?”.
“Are there any other kind?” Asked Sumana smiling.
“Fine, fine. OK, here’s what we will do. Until you’re comfortable, I’ll get down and walk with you to the door and back. One woman might attract attention but with another thrown in for distraction, especially one dressed as I am, you will be safer”, said Vandana and got out of the car.
Sumana had no option but to follow. They walked to the front door without anyone looking, much to Sumana’s happiness. Once she was in, she locked the front door and started to remove the bangles before she had a thought. She smiled and left them on.
She saw that the time was about 4:45PM. Purnima would be back by 5:45pm or so. Sumana went into the kitchen and looked at the vegetables in the kitchen. She knew how to make a dish out of potatoes. In fact, Purnima liked the dish. So she started to boil the potatoes and cut onions and tomatoes. In about forty five minutes, the dish was done but Sumana was beginning to sweat in the heat of the kitchen.
She stepped out and checked herself out in the dresser mirror. Channeling the instruction given by Purnima and Maanya, she touched up the make-up as best as she could and then headed back into the kitchen to make tea for the two of them.
At 5:47 PM, the doorbell rang. Purnima waited outside for a minute before she used her key to open the door wondering where Sumant was. She stepped in and locked the door. No lights were on in the house. “Hmm, is he still at the magazine?” Thought Purnima as she walked into the living room and flopped on the couch. Riding the buses to and from work took a toll on her energy. She needed to sit down for a few minutes before she could pick herself up and go and make tea and dinner.
As she sat down and closed her eyes with tiredness, the strong smell of tea wafted to her nose. She opened her eyes to see a hand holding out a cup of tea in front of her face. She turned to look at Sumana who stood bent over Purnima smiling.
“Wow!” Said Purnima as she slowly got up.
“Sit down, Purni. I know you must be tired. Drink your tea”, said Sumana. Purnima was beyond surprised. The fact that Sumana had made tea for her made a greater impact on her than how Sumana was dressed.
Once Purnima had had time to drink the tea, she inspected Sumana more closely. “You look really good”.
“Thank you”, said Sumana blushing.
“Would you please help me in the kitchen? We can get done with dinner sooner…” Said Purnima hinting at something.
“Sure”, said Sumana and followed Purnima into the kitchen. When Purnima saw the dish on the stove, she turned to Sumana and grabbing her by the waist, kissed her. “Thank you”, she said in a heartfelt manner.
“Sorry, I didn’t want to mess up the rotis. Else…”.
“Let’s do it together”, said Purnima and showed the proportion of mixing the flour and water. She showed Sumana how to leave it covered for some time and then roll out the balls, flatten them etc.
As soon as they were done with dinner, Purnima almost took the lead and started to make out with Sumana. “It feels nice to be appreciated”, thought Sumana as she kissed Purnima. That night, they made love in the clothes that they wore before changing and going to bed.
The next day, Sumant was back at ‘work’. This time, Sumana wore a georgette lehenga in pale pink with a long wine-red embroidered choli that allowed her to wear the corset under the choli. The dupatta, in the same wine-red color bordered with frills, was pinned off his left shoulder once again.
Once again, Vandana dropped Sumana off in yet another ‘give away’ chudidhar suit. Sumana prepared tea and waited for Purnima to make an appearance. Suddenly, inspired by some conversation with Sushma, she looked up some YouTube videos and decided to try her hand at a dish herself. She also tried to make the dough for rotis. While the dish was a success, the dough turned out to be a bit to watery and needed some adjustment before she was able to roll it out.
Purnima drank the tea and went into the kitchen. She tasted the dish which, apart from a lack of salt, tasted pretty good. This time, she didn’t even wait for dinner to be over. She was all over Sumana when she saw the dish and the rotis.
Sumant started to go in about once a week on average. Since he was dressed as Sumana at home and had to change to being Sumant just to go into the office only to change back into Sumana, he was annoyed and complained about it to the three musketeers one day.
“If you don’t mind coming with me in the morning and going back in the evening, I can give you a ride to and fro. That way you can just be Sumana”.
“Oh, that seems dangerous”.
The three of them convinced that the benefits i.e. spending time with them outweighed the risk and so it was that on days that Sumana needed to come in, Vandana picked her up in the morning and dropped her home in the evening.
In just a span of three months, spending an inordinate amount of time with them, Sumana picked up many things. Everything from food recipes to fashion to accessorizing to beauty and beyond.
Purnima was beyond thrilled. Here was her husband, who’d been a non-contributor at home, who had gone back to being the high earner in the family and was contributing in house chores, being considerate to her and most importantly, turning her on somehow even more than when he was dressed as Sumant.
After the three months, Sushma declared that Sumana had enough hair to get extensions and soon Sumana was sporting hair that reached to her mid back. In addition to all the other rituals of getting ready as Sumana, she also now learnt how to take care of her hair – which products to use and for what reason.
Purnima was amused when, about six months into the exercise, one day, Sumana gave her advice on how to keep her chin hairless. She wondered at how far they’d come. By then, Sumana had worn corsets long enough that she could pull of wearing clothing that bared the mid-riff and waist. So, she was wearing saris and lehengas with short cholis for the photoshoots.
One of the photoshoots had Sumana modeling some bridal designs from a famous designer including an elaborate red lehenga choli embroidered in gold. When the designer saw the photos from the photoshoot, she objected.
“No, this is not the way I imagined it”, she told Prachi with Vandana, Sushma and Maanya present.
“We’ve stayed true to your sketch, Shikha. What more would you have us do?” Asked Prachi as they sat in her office.
“Hmm, you’re right but I think this whole picture of your model peeking through the screen of the palanquin being carried by the bearers brings the readers’ attention to the face and the dupatta that is wrapped around it. I think the whole picture will be top notch if the model is wearing an elaborate nose chain that attaches to the hair right behind the ear…”.
“It can be done”, said Sushma.
“One thing though. I don’t want one of those fake nose rings which are held in place by a spring clip. This has to be authentic. The model should have a nose piercing”.
Sushma, Maanya and Vandana exchanged glances. “That might be hard to do. These are not models who normally have their noses pierced…” Said Sushma.
“Well then, find me a model who is willing to have their nose pierced”, said Shikha vehemently. Then, sighing, she said, “Look, I think your current model is beautiful and is the perfect mascot for my new bridal line, but if they’re not willing to do this, I’m OK if we have to find someone else”.
“We’ll try”, said Prachi as she ground her teeth. Shikha was a famous designer and many advertisement deals were tied to her bridal showcase and it was imperative that they keep her happy. Besides, Sumana would lose a sizable fee for modeling if they used someone else. As Shikha had said, she would prefer Sumana over someone else on any day.
“Try your luck”, said Prachi to the three of them.
Sushma called Purnima at work.
“Hey, do you have time to come by today?”.
“Why? Is there a problem?”.
“There could be…” Said Sushma.
“OK, I can be there in about two hours. Will that work?”.
When Purnima presented herself at the magazine’s office, Sushma got right to the point. She explained the predicament they were in. Purnima looked from one to the other and then asked, “Is there anything else that might work?”. All of them shook their head.
“The fee for this photoshoot is quite big and Sumana has been looking forward to it as it would be some of her best work”, added Maanya.
“OK, what about after? Is there a good way to hide it?” Asked Purnima.
“Good enough that you can’t see anything from two feet away. At close distance, it is a different matter”.
Purnima thought for a while and said, “How much lead time can you give me?”.
“We need to reshoot in a week. It will take that amount of time to get all the stuff we need and the extras in…” Said Vandana.
“OK, I’ll make sure that he is mentally prepared by then…” Said Purnima.
“Are you sure he will be amenable?”.
“I will make sure that he is…” Said Purnima decisively and left.
That evening, Purnima came home. Sumana had made dinner and they ate together. It seemed to Sumana that Purnima was more into lovemaking than usual that night. Before they went to sleep, Purnima asked, “Honey, I want you to do something for me”.
“What is it?” Asked Sumana.
“Will you please say yes?”.
“Tell me what it is first”, said Sumana frustrated.
“Would you pierce your nose for me?”.
“Oh, no. I’m definitely not doing it”, protested Sumana. Purnima told her about Shikha and her demands.
“It is true that I was looking forward to the fee and to the issue being published. I wanted to use the money to get us a new fridge. Our current one isn’t working very well…”.
“Really? You are so sweet”, said Purnima kissing Sumana. “It is OK, honey. You will get another opportunity like this”, she continued.
Sumana lay awake for about fifteen minutes thinking about it.
“I will never be able to go back to look like a man if I do this, Purni”.
Purnima, who had been awake, turned to Sumana and kissed her. “Being a man has a lot less about looking the part and a lot more about taking care of your family, and you’re doing that, honey. I want to tell you that, I’d find it quite sexy if you wore a nose ring in that photoshoot”.
“You saw the pictures?” Asked Sumana.
“Yes, Vandana showed it to me. You looked amazing. Look, if your concern is about being found out, Maanya assured me that up to two feet away, with a skin-colored stud and some light touchup, no one can tell the difference. It is also possible to get it fixed surgically if it comes to that”.
“Hmm, really?” Said Sumana in a half-asleep state.
Purnima didn’t bring the topic up again. Two days later, Sumana said “I’ll do it… For you”.
“Thank you. You are the best”, said Purnima kissing Sumana. “I’ll be there with you.. To support you…”.
A couple of days later, Sumana walked into the office along with Purnima.
Sushma smiled at her. “You are going to look gorgeous as a bride”. Sumana didn’t know how to respond. She just blushed. “See you’re already giving off the vibe”, teased Sushma.
“Please, Sushma”, said Sumana out of embarrassment.
“Sit down in that make-up chair”, ordered Sushma.
She came back with some numbing agent, alcohol and a marker. She cleaned the area with the alcohol and the applied the numbing liberally. Once the alcohol had dried, she pointed out a spot to Purnima who nodded in acceptance. She marked the spot and looked at Purnima again.
“Looks good”, said Purnima smiling.
“Great”, said Sushma and used a sterilized needle to quickly pierce the nose taking care not to injure the septum. In spite of the numbing agent, Sumana’s eyes involuntarily watered. Purnima pulled out a nose stud and handed it to Sushma who quickly put it in and screwed the thread. This only made Sumana’s eyes water more.
When Sushma was done, Purnima wiped away Sumana’s tears with a towel. Sumana turned to look at the mirror for the first time and the shock hit her. She actually had a nose piercing. Till then, she felt a little worried about what wearing a nose pin would be mean but now it was real. She turned to look at Purnima who smiled and said, “You look amazing, honey”.
The photoshoot was an immense success and Sumana got many more photoshoots where she adorned nose pins and rings.
With the Sumana wearing saris, Purnima and Sumana were able to share saris albeit having a blouse each for the shared saris. Any tailoring that Sumana needed done could be done discreetly by the tailor that the magazine used.
Purnima actually started to like nose pins on Sumana and started to gift her fashionable nose pins. Sumana, excited that Purnima liked them, started to wear them more often.
The magazine started to do well. Its circulation had expanded beyond the state and was now being distributed nationally albeit still quite discreetly. Customers needed to know to ask for it as it wasn’t displayed on stands. That meant that there were ever more photoshoots to be done and Sumana was a sought-after model. She bagged more and more assignments including some that were onsite in exotic destinations. With the company of Maanya, Sushma and Vandana, Sumana had no trouble attending and working these photoshoots. Some of them even pictured Sumana wearing some daring swimsuits!
Nine months in, Sumana’s natural hair was long enough that she got it styled without Purnima’s knowledge. When Purnima saw the curls cascading down Sumana’s shoulders, she felt that Sumana looked more feminine than ever before. Their relationship in bed only seemed to go from strength to strength even though there was a subtle shift of power as Purnima became the initiator and the aggressor while Sumana became a bit more passive.
Sumana’s assignments had made enough money that they could afford to buy a second-hand car. Sumana presented it to Purnima on her birthday. Purnima was beyond moved and Sumana received special attention that day in bed.
About a year in, one day, Purnima sat on the bed reading a magazine and her eyes strayed to Sumana who was sitting at the dresser and braiding her hair while admiring herself in the mirror. Her movements and actions seemed so feminine to Purnima.
“Where is this going to go? I can see that she is becoming more and more feminine. At the same time, I’m taking more of the lead and the masculine role in everything. I guess it is a balance and we’re complimenting each other well – for the moment. But will it end well?” Thought Purnima.
As she continued to look at Sumana, she realized that her heart rate had increased and she was holding her breath as she unconsciously admired Sumana’s curves and her pretty face. She decided that she’d pay more attention to these feelings and thoughts and when the time was right, she’d talk to Sumana.
About sixteen months in, tragedy struck for the magazine. A distributor had incorrectly told his vendors that they should display the magazine on stands. That too in a conservative state. The outcry that followed from the public meant that there was a fallout. While behind closed doors, politicians were sympathetic to the magazine’s cause and that of crossdressers everywhere, in public, they were forced to dance to a different tune. There were burnings and even a few cases where customers buying the magazine were beaten up.
It seemed that, almost overnight, the magazine’s circulation dropped by a whopping sixty five percent.
Prachi called her employees and models in and gave them the bad news. “I’m sorry, folks. I can no longer employ you because of two reasons. The first is that I don’t have money to pay you. The second is that it is dangerous for you to be here. It is only a matter of time before the location of our office is public and then who knows what will happen. Please keep a low profile. If the situation improves… No, when the situation improves, I’ll be glad to reopen the magazine and hire you back if you’re on the lookout for a job then”.
Maanya, Sushma, Vandana and Sumana said their farewells and promised to keep in touch.
That evening, Sumana told Purnima of the bad news. “That is so sad”, agreed Purnima.
“Thanks to you, we have enough money saved for at least three years of expenses. So, we don’t have to worry”, said Purnima and kissed Sumana. “I want to say that you’ve been amazing, honey. I never thought that this would even be a remote possibility but you’ve surprised me…”.
“I felt so guilty when you told me about the heater…” Said Sumana sadly.
“Would you like to continue dressing as Sumana? In case the magazine opens up again?”. Purnima’s question was leading and she hoped that Sumana would give the ‘right’ answer.
“I think we can keep it going for at least a short while”.
“OK, if you think that makes sense…” Said Purnima rejoicing internally. After all, she’d grown to quite like Sumana in more ways than one.
As Sumana remained at home, they still partook of the chores around the house. Purnima did most of the shopping either on her way to work or on the way back. Sumana did most of the day to day chores.
The next piece of luck came about three months later when Purnima’s position as an associate lecturer was confirmed. That meant a huge boost to their income as she would now be making more money on a monthly basis than even what Sumant had made as a contractor.
“That is great, honey”, said Sumana when Purnima told her of the news.
“Now, it doesn’t matter if the magazine opens up again or not, we’re set”, said Purnima jubilantly.
“That’s true”, said Sumana but her face showed sadness.
“Why the sad face?” Asked Purnima.
“Oh, it is just that I feel useless again”.
“Please, honey. Don’t feel that way. What you’ve done for us was amazing. You really helped us during our time of desperation. You… you continue to help us now by being a responsible partner in our relationship. You’ve taken on many chores around the house freeing up my time” said Purnima thinking “This is working out exactly as I hoped it will”. Sumana seemed unconvinced. “When I wasn’t working, did you feel that I was being useless?”.
“No, no. You were doing everything around the house… taking care of everything…”.
“Then why don’t you do the same? You will feel more productive, less despondent and these feelings of being useless will disappear”, said Purnima. Sumana slowly nodded.
This only amplified Purnima’s confidence about being the more masculine partner and the breadwinner of the family. After all, it was she who was deciding who should play what role and setting the agenda for them as a family. Purnima slowly moved in and grabbed Sumana by the neck and kissed her. Sumana responded slowly. The aggression in Purnima when they made love that night would have been unmistakable to anyone looking in from the outside.
This started a new phase in their relationship. Purnima started to be more assertive and tell Sumana what and what not to do and Sumana seemed to follow along without any objections. She took over all of the household duties that Purnima had done before as a housewife thereby replacing Purnima as the housewife in the relationship. Unlike Sumant, Purnima was appreciative of what Sumana did. The impact of that was two-sided. Sumana felt that she was contributing to the family and Purnima was reinforcing the role that Sumana was playing in the relationship.
The topic of whether Sumana should go back to being Sumant came up a couple of months later when it became clear that the magazine was not going to be revived anytime soon.
“No”, was Purnima’s vehement answer.
Sumana was taken aback. “Why no?”.
“All these changes came about because Sumant became Sumana. I don’t want to go back to that situation again”.
Sumana looked at Purnima sadly. “Do you think I’d ever go back to being that person?”.
Purnima looked Sumana in the eye and asked her “Do you want to? I’ll be honest with you. This arrangement that we have is working out well for me… for us. We’ve settled comfortably into a routine. It will mean readjusting to something new”.
Sumana kept quiet and didn’t say anything.
Six months later, as Purnima sat at the dining table setting the examination questions for the semester exams for her students, her phone rang.
“Hi mom”.
Sumana, who was working in the kitchen, stopped what she was doing and tried to listen.
“We’re doing fine, mom. How are uncle and aunt doing?”. Purnima’s mother, Shailaja, stayed with her brother and sister-in-law at a retirement community.
“Oh, is that right? They are moving to Manav’s place?”. Manav was Purnima’s cousin and the only son of her uncle and aunt.
“So, what are you thinking?”.
“You can come here”, said Purnima dragging the ‘can’. “No, mom. I’m not dragging my feet. It is just that things are a bit up in the air…”.
Sumana heard Purnima sigh and say “Sure, mom. Come over. Let me know when you book your tickets… Bye”.
Sumana came to the door of the kitchen and Purnima and Sumana exchanged glances.
“Oh well, it was too good to last”, said Purnima. “My mom is going to come and stay with us. For now, it will be about three months. We’ll know after three months whether she’s going to extend her stay or not. Apparently, my uncle and aunt are going to try staying with their son on a trial basis. Mom doesn’t want to be by herself there. You can go back to being Sumant. We have one week for you to change back”.
That night, they discussed it as they lay in bed. “I’ve been Sumana for so long that now I fear I will slip up in front of your mother”.
“Don’t worry, honey. I’ll be right here to support you. I don’t know how this is going to pan out but we will work it out”, said Purnima.
Starting the next morning, Purnima and Sumana started to put away Sumana’s stuff. They packed them into suitcases in case the need arose sometime again in the future. Sumant’s clothes which had been packed away before were brought out and washed to get rid of the moth ball smell.
“There are three things that we need to decide on”, said Purnima.
“What three things?”.
“Your ears, nose and your hair…”.
“What can we do about my ears?”.
“Do you want to continue to wear something in them?”.
Sumant looked worried. “No, better not to”.
“OK, that is fine. Now, about your hair… It has grown beautifully well and you’ve taken such good care of it…”.
“Yes, but what can we do?”.
“Do you think it will work in reverse?”.
“What?”.
“Let’s say we use a wig…”.
“How is that going to work, Purni? Won’t it come off at an inopportune time?”.
“As the son-in-law, you can go back to doing nothing. So, it shouldn’t be hard…” Teased Purnima. Shailaja was one of those people who had an old-fashioned view of the world and the position of men/women, husbands/wives, breadwinners/homemakers, were clearly divided in her mind. Seeing Sumant’s hurt face, Purnima came closer and said, “Hey, I know you’re no longer that person. I was just joking. But seriously though, you can just do the bare minimum and get away with it. This time, you will have my full support. If it seems like it will be a long term thing, we can take more drastic measures”.
“What about the nose?” Asked Sumant.
“Do you remember what Maanya said about the nose? That it can be hidden effectively unless the person steps up close? We’ll just do as she recommended. My mom is not going to step up that close to you…”.
“OK, let’s give it a shot”.
“Please take care of just one thing. Make sure that she is happy. If she isn’t happy, I won’t be happy and if I’m not happy…” Said Purnima leaving the sentence unfinished.
The next day, Purnima got a wig with a man’s cut and they tried it on Sumant. It worked pretty well and even held on under extreme motion.
The following Tuesday, Sumant dropped Purnima at the college and went to pick up his mother-in-law at the railway station.
He got into the coach that she was in and got her suitcase down. They walked back to the car.
“Hello aunty. Hope your travel was OK”, said Sumant making conversation.
“Yes. Yes it was. Thank you for picking me up and letting me stay with you”, said Shailaja formally.
“Come on, aunty. You have every right to stay with us”, said Sumant.
“Thank you”, said Shailaja.
Sumant drove her home just in time for lunch.
As they ate lunch, Shailaja remarked, “This doesn’t taste like Purni’s cooking…”.
Sumant seemed to blush a little before he said, “I made that, aunty”.
“What? She has you cooking now?” Asked Shailaja sounding almost offended.
“No, aunty. I’m at home. She’s busy with the semester exams. If I can help in any way…”.
“You are a good person, Sumant. How many husbands will be willing to do this?” Said Shailaja as she continued to eat.
After lunch, Sumant set Shailaja up in the guest room and told her to rest.
When Shailaja woke up after resting, Sumant had tea ready for her. She protested saying that she’d have made the tea but Sumant told her to not to worry.
After giving her tea, Sumant went into the kitchen and started to prepare for dinner and made tea just in time for Purnima to arrive.
“Thank you, honey”, said Purnima as she accepted the tea.
When Sumant was out of earshot, Shailaja said, “What is this, Purni? You’re having Sumant do all the house work?”.
“So what, mom? I’m going to work everyday and earning. What if he helps around the house and does the chores?” Asked Purnima point blank.
Shailaja kept quiet. For the next three weeks, she observed quietly as Sumant went about doing all the household chores. She tried to help where she could.
She also observed the interactions between Purnima and Sumant. Even though Sumant had changed back from Sumana, the dynamic between Purnima and him remained the same as when he was Sumana and Purnima more or less made all the decisions and called the shots.
This came obviously clear to Shailaja one evening. Sumant had seen an advertisement in the paper for a new range of smartphones being released soon. He brought it up with Purnima when Shailaja was not around. Shailaja, however, accidentally overheard the conversation.
“Purni, there is this new phone that has come on the market…”.
“Yes. So?”.
“Can I get one?”.
“Why?”.
“My old one isn’t working as well…”.
“Is it dead?”.
“No”.
“Then keep using it for now. If it dies, we can think about a new one”, said Purnima and got up and walked away.
It seemed to Shailaja that Purnima’s tone was quite curt and Sumant’s tone almost felt like he was asking her permission to buy the phone.
Shailaja was awake for sometime that night thinking about all of it. She came to a conclusion before she went to sleep.
The next morning, Purnima left for work. Sumant took the clothes out of the washer and hung them out to dry. As he walked in with the empty washing bucket, he saw Shailaja reading a magazine. He didn’t pay much attention to it.
Shailaja, who heard him come in, turned to him and said, “Interesting articles and pictures in this magazine”.
Sumant was about to ask what magazine she was reading before he realized what she held in her hand. The cover said, “Stay cool this summer!” and showed the model posing in a white lehenga choli with a summer feel – pink flowers with green leaves made of a material with mostly cotton mix. The model was Sumana!
He remembered that particular issue. It was the one with an interview of him! Even though he was only identified as ‘S’ in the interview, to protect his privacy, anyone who knew him personally would know that it was him. “Oh god, how did she get a hold of this magazine and this issue? What is she playing at?” Thought Sumant.
“I don’t know if you know. This magazine was published specifically for crossdressers. They had to stop suddenly. They had been flying under the radar for quite sometime and then an inadvertent mistake put them in the spotlight. Quite tragic, really. So many people lost their livelihoods, I’m sure. Anyway, around the time that this became a huge issue and there was public outcry, I wanted to see what all the hullabaloo was about and went out and bought the previous issue – this one. Very nice magazine. The quality of the editing and the magazine itself is quite evident”.
Sumant stood like a rock not knowing how to react.
“Anyway, the models in this magazine and specifically in this issue are amazing. Can you believe that this model on the cover is a man? Well, if you can call him that…”.
Sumant felt like a spear had just pierced his heart. He stared at Shailaja.
“They even had an interview with him… Perhaps I should say ‘her’ inside”.
Sumant averted his eyes and looked at the bucket in his hand.
“She talks about some her favorite things and how she enjoys posing for the photos. But I’m sure she is lying”.
Sumant looked up at Shailaja.
“She says that she is married and has a wife. I’m sure that she has a husband – not a wife. How can someone this pretty qualify to be the husband in the marriage? Don’t you agree?”.
Sumant kept quiet.
“Not that I have anything against her. I’m sure she is a completely personable person and I have no axe to grind with her or with the magazine. In fact, I have to thank the magazine for opening my eyes”.
“Oh god, this is torture”, thought Sumant unable to move or act.
“Sorry, I’m just prattling on and you’re just standing there. Why don’t you come and take a seat?”.
Sumant placed the bucket by a corner and came over and sat on the sofa.
“Can you believe her hair? It looks so long and luxurious. Obviously, it must be a wig. What do you think?”.
Sumant’s heart felt like it would burst.
“I’m sorry. I haven’t even given you an opportunity to respond…”. Sumant’s face said it all. “So, do you want to talk about it?” Asked Shailaja knowing that she’d cornered Sumant.
“OK, I’ll go first. I did buy this magazine out of curiosity, like I said, when the whole fracas happened. I was surprised, to say the least, to see… the model on the cover. I reached out to Purni. She told me that you both had been struggling financially ever since you’d lost your business after the economic downturn. ‘Desperate times call for desperate measures’ I thought and just let things be”.
Shailaja saw the agony on Sumant’s face and decided not to prolong things any further.
“OK, I’ll get to the point. I thought I’d let sleeping dogs lie. After all, you’d done whatever was needed to secure your financial future. However, in these past three weeks, observing the two of you, I can see that much more has happened. I can see that the roles have been reversed…”.
Sumant, shaken out of his misery, started to protest.
“Please… wait for me to finish”, said Shailaja sternly. Sumant quietened down immediately. “I’ll give you an example. Many interactions between you and Purni were causing niggling doubts and confusion in me. Consider the latest one – that of the new phone that you and Purni discussed last night. It was clear to me from that interaction that she is calling the shots in this house and is the decision maker. Now, I was not happy with the way she talked to you. It is not the way a wife should talk to a husband in my mind. That troubled me. However, as I lay awake last night, it became crystal clear to me. It was only wrong if she was the wife in the relationship. If she was the husband in the relationship, she was perfectly within her rights to behave and talk the way she did. That would automatically make you the wife in the relationship. In that light, so many of those niggling doubts and confusion melted away. Of course, you’re behaving like the perfect wife and homemaker. You cook, you clean, you wash, you take care of your husband when he comes home after a long day at work. For all I know, even in the bedroom…”.
Seeing the expression on Sumant’s face, Shailaja continued, “OK, maybe not so but it doesn’t matter. I’m sure that even if the relationship in the bedroom remains conventional, it is Purni that is initiating it… Most of the time”. Shailaja watched closely as she saw the shame on Sumant’s face. “So, I am correct. Well, that just confirms everything I’ve said so far. Tell me that I’m wrong”.
Sumant said nothing and was looking at the floor.
“And look at our interaction now. You started to protest and I told you to shut up and listen and you just did as I told you to. Tell me which son-in-law will take that from his mother-in-law. Now, it would be a much more appropriate interaction between a daughter-in-law and a mother-in-law. Wouldn’t you agree?”.
Getting no answer from Sumant, Shailaja stared at him for a few minutes.
A lightbulb went off in her head. “Are you wearing a wig?” She asked. Sumant looked Shailaja in the eye. She could see the truth in his.
“Would you take it off?”.
Sumant glared at her for a while before he pulled his wig off to reveal his long hair under a hair net. He recalled what Purnima had told him about Shailaja’s happiness.
“That too”, said Shailaja. Sumant took off the net and his hair cascaded down his shoulders and reached his lower back.
“Wow, you have beautiful, long, luxurious hair. To trap it under such an ugly wig is a crime…” Commented Shailaja.
“Truth be told, it tells me that you or Purni or both had some intention of making… Sumana reappear in the future… Perhaps when I’m not here anymore. Am I right? OK, your look tells me that it is true. Now you don’t have to worry. You can be Sumana even when I’m here. In fact, I’m going to insist that she make an appearance… And be a permanent fixture while I’m here…”.
Sumant looked at Shailaja as if she were mad. “I want to see my daughter-in-law”. Sumant didn’t know how to react. “I’m not joking”.
“But…” Said Sumant finding his voice.
“I will not tolerate you, my daughter-in-law, talking back to me. Now, do as I say”, ordered Shailaja sternly.
Sumant slowly got up and walked towards the bedroom. He pulled out the suitcases that contained Sumana’s clothes and took out a teal green woven sari with navy blue pallu and blue and gold border and its matching navy blue blouse with the same blue and gold border. By this time, Sumana had accumulated enough costume jewellery sets that he pulled out a few and matched the closest one. Then, on second thought, he decided to wear gold ornaments and went to Purnima’s closet and took out her jewellery box. He took out bangles, a chain, simple earrings and silver anklets out of the box.
Almost by rote and without too much conscious thought, he transformed himself into Sumana. It was so automatic at that point that he came out of his reverie to find that he’d already made up his face and was dressed in the sari. He took a deep breath and walked out of the bedroom.
Shailaja, who was sitting outside in a pensive mood, stood up as soon as she saw Sumana. She smiled broadly and said “Look at my beautiful daughter-in-law. She is the harbinger of luck to this house”, and hugged Sumana. Sumana hugged back reluctantly.
Shailaja stepped back and gave Sumana a critical look. “Where is the nose pin?” She asked. “N… Nose pin?”.
“Yes, one of the pictures showed you wearing a nose ring. I looked at it closely and it was clear that your nose was pierced. Was it not?”. Sumana nodded slowly. “Good, I’m happy that my daughter-in-law has a pierced nose. Shows her to be a woman of culture. How many women get their nose pierced these days? I tried to encourage Purni but she’d have none of it. But it is amazing that you did it”, said Shailaja. Sumana didn’t know how to react.
“Was it she who convinced you to get your nose pierced?”.
Sumana nodded.
“Wow, she knows what she wants in her wife”, teased Shailaja causing Sumana to feel ashamed.
“Now, go and wear a nose pin”, ordered Shailaja.
When Sumana came out again, she wore one of the pins that Purnima had gifted her. Shailaja looked at her critically and said, “This is ok for now but my daughter-in-law should be wearing the family heirloom. A ruby and diamond-encrusted nose pin. I’ll have to ask Purnima to take me to the bank tomorrow so that I can get it for you. You will look like a queen in them”. Sumana blushed a deep red.
“Now, you can go about your regular work”, said Shailaja and sat down. Whereas, when Sumant was around, she’d try to help him with house work, now, she just sat down and watched Sumana as she went about her work.
Evening arrived as did Purnima. She walked into the house as the front door was open and stopped in her tracks when she saw Sumana’s back in the kitchen. Sumana, having heard Purnima’s footsteps turned around. They made eye contact. Purnima questioned Sumana with her eyes. Sumana nodded her head towards the living room. Purnima, who stood out of sight from her mother, took a few steps forward and saw Shailaja sitting on the sofa.
Shailaja smiled at Purnima.
“Hi mom, what’s going on?”.
“What’s going on? Nothing. I’m sitting here reading a book. Sumana is in the kitchen… Probably preparing dinner and tea for you”.
Purnima stared at Shailaja.
“Sumana… Purni is here. You can get her tea”, said Shailaja in a loud voice.
Sumana stepped out of the kitchen and handed Purnima her tea and walked back into the kitchen without making eye contact with either of them.
“No, really. What’s going on, mom?” Asked Purnima.
Shailaja recounted her conversation with Sumant that morning and her observations over the last three weeks. Purnima heard everything patiently as she drank her tea. When Shailaja was done, she nodded and got up to leave.
“You’re not going to say anything?” Asked Shailaja.
“What is there to say? Looks like mother-in-law and daughter-in-law have figured things out between themselves”.
Shailaja smiled broadly on hearing Purnima’s comment.
Sumana, having finished cooking for dinner, had gone into the bedroom. She heard what Purnima had told Shailaja.
Purnima entered the bedroom and closed the door. Sumana looked accusingly at Purnima.
“What?” Asked Purnima.
“You said you’d be there for me. You said you’d support me…” Said Sumana almost on the verge of tears.
“Yes, I did”.
“You just agreed with everything she said and did”.
“What would you have me do? If you’d stood your ground and told her off and told her to mind her own business, I could have gotten behind my husband and taken his side. But that is not what happened here. You just capitulated almost as if you wanted it to happen”, said Purnima brusquely.
“You were the one who told me to keep her happy…”.
“I said keep her happy, not crazy…”.
Then, seeing the hurt look on Sumana’s face, she said apologetically, “Neither did I expect you to capitulate so easily nor did I expect her to ambush you like that… I could have gotten between my husband and my mother but I cannot interfere between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law”.
Sumana was almost near tears. Purnima sat down beside Sumana. “Sumana, please consider this a bit more rationally. I think she, being a third-party observer, has evaluated our relationship correctly. What she’s saying about our roles is correct, isn’t it?”. Sumana nodded slowly.
“Now, did you feel odd when I rejected your request to buy a new phone?”. Sumana shook her head. “Did you feel odd doing all the work around the house?”. Again, Sumana shook her head. “All of these were natural to you. So, that shows that you were comfortable with your role in the relationship…”.
After waiting for a few minutes to let what she’d said sink in, she continued. “Now, what has changed? Yes, there is that explicit definition of our roles. And yes, it has changed. I am the husband and breadwinner for all practical purposes and you are the wife and homemaker. But, as my mother rightly points out, we were already in those assigned roles even though we didn’t think about or define our roles explicitly. That’s all”.
“The next part to this is that before my mother came to visit, there was just the two of us. Now, she’s in the picture. And she knows out secret. If she were not in the picture, would you have been uncomfortable with dressing as Sumana? Of course not. Because that is natural to you now. What has changed is that she’s stepped in and defined these mother-in-law and daughter-in-law roles. Please set your ego aside for a moment and think. Apart from these naming of relationships, has anything really changed?”.
Sumana thought for a while and shook her head.
“Is it really all that bad then, Sumana?”. Sumana looked at Purnima sadly. “I promise I’ll make it up to you in other ways”, said Purnima pulling Sumana to herself and kissing her on the lips passionately. Sumana responded with eagerness. They made love.
Sumana felt a bit more at peace after that pep talk from Purnima. Things fell into an uneasy routine around the house. Shailaja acted like a mother-in-law around the house and ordered Sumana around.
One Saturday morning, Sumana was dressed in jeans and a very feminine top when she exited the bedroom.
“This is not acceptable”, said Shailaja.
“What do you mean?”.
“I think it is not nice for you to dress like this. You should wear more traditional clothes. In fact, it is best if you just wear saris”.
“I don’t understand your objection. I’m wearing women’s clothes. I’m also wearing these inside the house…”.
“It does not matter. You should dress more like a traditional daughter-in-law in this house”, remarked Shailaja.
Sumana turned around to see Purnima standing at the bedroom door. Purnima made no comment. Sumana waited patiently for Purnima to support her. But none was forthcoming.
“You heard mom”, said Purnima finally.
Sumana walked into the bedroom and Purnima followed her in.
“Really?” Asked Sumana when Purnima had closed the door.
“It is best not to ruffle any feathers at this point, honey. Just bear with her. We will figure out a solution soon”, said Purnima placatingly.
Sumana agreed half-heartedly and started to wear only saris around the house.
It seemed to Sumana that Shailaja was becoming more and more draconian with her demands and many days, she felt annoyed and complained to Purnima but Purnima’s answer was always the same. She asked Sumana to bear with her mother till they figured out a solution.
One Saturday morning, Shailaja got a new sari for Sumana. “Wear this and come out”, she ordered. She handed a package to Purnima and told her to do the same.
To their dismay, they saw that she’d got Purnima a kurta and pajama. “Now what?” Asked Sumana almost tired.
Purnima stepped out of the room as Sumana was taking a shower. “Mom, what is this? Things are going out of control here”, she said.
“What? I’m just formalizing the relationship between the two of you…”.
“This is too much, mom. Just because you have the upper hand, doesn’t mean that you can keeping pushing Sumana”, objected Purnima.
“I’m just trying to cement your position in this relationship. If you tie a mangalsutra on him, you gain the upper hand permanently. It is to your benefit…”.
“Stop playing these mind games with Sumana, mom. I will not let you do that to her”, said Purnima pointedly.
“OK, fine. Don’t come crying back to me when things don’t work out”, retorted Shailaja.
Purnima walked into the room to see Sumana had come out of the shower. “Thank you for standing up for me”, she said.
“You know what? All of this was because of me. Enough of this nonsense. You’re going back to being my husband Sumant… Forever”.
“Now, who’s reacting emotionally?” Asked Sumana.
“What would you have me do, Sumana?”.
“Bide your time”, said Sumana calmly.
A couple of months passed. The three month timeline that Purnima had mentioned was coming up.
“Purni, I just heard back from your uncle. They’re going to stay with Manav. So, I’ll continue to stay here”, said Shailaja.
“Let me talk to Sumana, mom”, said Purnima.
“Why?”.
“She should be on board with you staying too”.
“I thought you were in charge around here”. Purnima glared at Shailaja but said nothing.
The next morning, Purnima told Shailaja, “I’ve discussed this with Sumana, mom. You can stay”.
“You need to start putting your foot down, Purni”, said Shailaja.
Just then, Sumana walked out of the bedroom dressed in a blouse and skirt.
“What is this? What are you wearing?” Asked Shailaja.
“Oh, this is a skirt and blouse that Purni got for me”, said Sumana.
“I do not like my daughter-in-law wearing such clothes…”.
“I have to go in to work, aunty. Even if I go in a sari, I have to change out into other clothes there…”.
“Work? What work?”.
“Oh, I thought that since you followed the magazine and its descension into infamy, you might also have followed the news on it. The highest court in the land has reinstated the owner’s right to publish the magazine again and has ruled that it is protected under law. So, the magazine has started up again. I thought you’d know this. Anyway, they had asked me to come back to work. I was not sure if I should take it up again or not but have decided to do so starting today”, said Sumana cheerily.
“You’re going to model again?”.
“Yes”.
“No, my daughter-in-law will not work…” Said Shailaja.
“So, let me get this straight, aunty. You let let your daughter wear clothes such as this all the time but your daughter-in-law cannot. You never complained when your daughter took up a job but you complain loudly when your daughter-in-law does? One rule for your daughter and one rule for your daughter-in-law, aunty?” Asked Sumana staring Shailaja in the face.
“Do you see how she talks back to me?” Asked Shailaja of Purnima.
“I’m glad that she is, mom. It is about time that she stood up for herself”, said Purnima. Turning to Sumana, she asked, “Is it true? Has the magazine reopened?”.
“Yes, Prachi called me about two weeks ago. Then, yesterday, I got a call from Maanya. It seems that the three musketeers are back and they’re missing their d’Artagnan”, said Sumana smiling.
“And pay?”.
“Prachi found some new wealthy backers. She has promised to pay about thirty percent more…”.
“Wow, that is quite the raise…”.
“Thank you, Purni”.
Purnima turned to Shailaja. “And with that mom, Sumana will be making more money than me and can call the shots financially in the house once more. Does that restore her to son-in-law status?”.
“But who will do all the work around the house?”.
“Oh, we will employ a maid to clean the house, dishes and wash the clothes. I’m sure you can take care of the cooking now that you’re going to be staying with us”, said Purnima smiling. The look of consternation on Shailaja’s face was complete. “Mom, you’ve been outplayed and outwitted by your ‘daughter-in-law’. It is time to concede defeat and accept the outcome gracefully and stay with us or we can find another solution”.
“All I wanted was the best for you…”.
“At the cost of undermining my spouse? No, thank you”, said Purnima.
Just then, a car sounded its horn outside.
“That must be Vandana”, said Sumana.
Purnima pulled Sumana in for a kiss before she let her go.
“Why, mom? Why?” Asked Purnima sadly once Sumana had left.
Shailaja smiled sadly and said, “I believe my work here is done. I’ve achieved the intended effect”.
“What do you mean, mom?”.
“When I heard you that day, berating Sumant for wanting a new phone, I felt really bad for Sumant. I thought about how terrible I’d have felt if it had been my daughter in his place. I wanted to teach you, Purni, a lesson to treat him well. I also wanted Sumant to be independent and be his own person again. The only I knew to resolve this was to push you into standing up for him so that you realize what an amazing relationship you have and to egg Sumant/Sumana into finding work so that the relationship would not be lopsided. I expected you to stand up for him the day I forced him to dress up as Sumana but you just accepted it. Sumana also seemed to go with the flow. So I had to up the ante and push you both. Hence my bid to get you to tie a mangalstura on Sumana”.
Purnima’s face registered utter surprise.
“After that day, however, I saw a determination in Sumana’s eyes that told me that my message had found its mark. I knew it was a matter of time before things changed. And for the record, Purnima, I did know about the magazine. That it was going to be back in print. The day I read it is the day I tried to force you to tie the mangalsutra”, said Shailaja smiling.
Purnima was overwhelmed. “Why did you have to become the bad person, mom? Couldn’t you have found another way to convey this to us?”.
“How can I try to reason with two people who were trying their damnest to hide their lives… Themselves from me? No, this was the only way I knew how”.
Purnima turned to Shailaja after Sumana had left. “Thank you, mom. I’m sorry for doubting you”.
“Oh, Purni. Why didn’t you tell me about your financial struggles? I could have helped”.
“Mom, our relationship was floundering before this job for Sumana came along. We had to sink or swim both from a relationship perspective and a financial perspective. And I had to know whether we would survive. This was my motivation to go down this path. I don’t know if I did the right thing…”.
“I’ve never seen the two of you happier. I think you did make the right call. It shows in your reaffirmed love for one another”, said Shailaja hugging Purnima.
Shailaja gasped as they hugged. “What is it, mom?” Asked Purnima and turned around following Shailaja’s gaze. She saw Sumana standing just inside the door.
Sumana had tears in her eyes. “I forgot my umbrella. Vandana said it was going to rain today”, she said as an explanation.
“You heard?” Asked Purnima.
“Almost all of it”.
Shailaja opened up her arms and Sumana rushed into her open arms and hugged her. Purnima joined the group hug. They stood that way for a while.
“Good luck on your first day back, my dear”, said Shailaja as she sent Sumana on her way.
“You’re staying with us. That’s final”, said Sumana with finality as she stepped out of the front door.
Sumana stepped out of the house and walked to car without a care.
Vandana smiled as Sumana opened the door and got in. “How are you, Sumana?”.
“I’m doing great. How about you?”.
“I’ve been well. Thank you. I thought I’d come up to the door…”.
“Oh, there’s no need for that anymore…”.
“And why not?”.
“Because I don’t care anymore what anyone thinks. I’m happy to be who I am and the people around me, that love me, accept me the way I am”, said Sumana with certainty and confidence.
“Wow, you’ve changed into one strong woman in these months, Sumana. It is going to be a pleasure to work with you again. I have a feeling we’re going to see that fierceness, independence and carefree attitude show through in your photoshoots. And that is only going to make you more popular…”.
“Enough with the praise already”, said Sumana blushing.
They reached work. “Oh, forgot to tell you. The photographer we used to work with has another photoshoot in progress. We’ve got a stand-in for the first few weeks. But she is amazing. We’ve worked with her several times before”, said Vandana.
Sumana didn’t particularly care and nodded in a distracted manner.
Maanya and Sushma were already in at work. They all met and hugged each other like old friends.
“Folks, let’s start with a bang today”, said Vandana. “Let’s dress Sumana provocatively”.
“What do you have in mind?”.
“I’ve got a lehenga that will do wonders for her”.
“Bring it out. Let’s see”, challenged Sushma.
Vandana brought out a lehenga in pure white with embroidery and mirror work. That was OK. What was a stunner was the blouse which was white and gold with similar mirror work, a very low neck line and a high waist that bared the mid riff completely. The arms of the choli were barely hanging off the shoulder and were made of net. The dupatta was completely transparent leaving nothing beneath to the imagination.
Sumana gasped when she saw the blouse and the dupatta. “This is too much. I can’t pull this off”.
“Yes, you can. The old Sumana couldn’t have. This one can”, said Vandana. Sushma and Maanya agreed.
They began to work on her. She was ready after about forty minutes.
When Sumana stepped out, she was surprised to see Tanuja standing there. The look of astonishment that pervaded Tanuja’s face when she recognized Sumana brought a smile to Sumana’s face.
“So, I guess I have you to thank for this state of mine…” Teased Sumana.
“I… Sorry… It wasn’t…” Stumbled Tanuja.
“Hey, I’m joking”.
“Did Purnima tell you…”.
“No, you told me about your nightmarish photoshoot when we met. However, I never made the connection until now…”.
“Thank you for being gracious about it”, said Tanuja.
“Gracious? Oh no. We have you to thank for getting us out of the hole that I’d dug us into. I owe you my gratitude”.
Tanuja smiled and said, “No need for any of that. I’d be glad if I could count Sumana as a friend as much as Purnima”.
“Consider it a foregone conclusion”, said Sumana smiling.
“In fact, I’m going to insist to Prachi that I do all your photoshoots from now on”.
“Welcome to the Sumana fan club”, said Maanya smiling.
It matters to me a lot. And yes, of course you can post anonymously, no e-mail, no login, nothing required.
Crossdressing Tales 
it’s hard and boring to read everything once. post it in parts.
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Most of us like it this way, and no one complained until now. Let see anyone else agrees to this. And maybe, I might think about it. But for now, please find some good amount of free time to read it. Posting in parts won’t give us the exact same satisfaction as this. 🙂
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yes it is too long please post in the parts of 5000 words instead of 20,000 words
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When I read I can feel my self as sumana…wow great story ….small suggestion when u write stories will mention hair play bun dropping mention abt hair play and length of the hair mam…
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Thank you, Billu! I will try to add those details in future stories…
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although story is long but it is interesting i am talking about version 1
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Thank you! Version 1, hands down, seems to be more popular.
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I have loved every bit of this story. Thanks for writing awesome story.
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Thank you, greatdevil! Glad you loved it!
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Don’t split into parts, finished reading in a single sitting :). Beautiful story, now onto version 2.
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Anita,
Glad that it was gripping enough for you to finish reading in one sitting! 🙂
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No more parts please !!! You can add text in middle to suggest part 1, part 2 … And so on , but pls don’t publish them in parts.
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I started reading today and i am mesmerized. Completed both versions and i am so have and glad 😊. It’s perfect the way it is. Please do not split this in parts.
I just wish new stories comes quicker in future.
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Thank you for the glowing comments! Glad that you loved both versions!
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Seriously awesome story I like how sumana/sumanth fought back with his wife purni and shialiaja not being dumb fuck sissy bitch ,love this story so much ,for a moment I was feeling like sumana and I like this way of story no parts needed
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Thank you, Priyanka! After comments on previous stories that asked for a stronger character, I felt that this story was a great opportunity to have such a character. Nothing compliments a writer more than a comment that says that a reader is able to identify with a character – Thank you 🙂
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Version 1 has more life in it I liked it more than version 2
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Thank you for the vote for Version 1!
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Thanks Arthi for keeping “crossdressig tales” vibrant! by posting stories. This one about Sumana was very very nice! And continue to write please! best wishes and a happy new year to you Anjali and all associated with Crossdressing tales and all readers too. Love – Rajshree
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Thank you, Rajshree! A happy new year to you as well! I hope that I will continue to have the time to write in 2023.
-Arthi
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Thank you 🙏 and hoping and wishing you will have time and looking forward to reading 👍🙂
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Beautifully written story Arthi!! Loved both the versions and all characters, except a little hate to that Shylaja character.. I have read your other stories as well and I am a fan of your style of writing, keeping it simple and interesting.
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Hi Sana when can we expect something from really missing your writing. You are the best in the role reversal story writing 🙂. Please come up with a new story
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Dear, I’ve finished a couple of parts of my new story and it’s under review.. It won’t take a long time to make it available for you all…
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Wow that’s really great to hear sana is it making of housewife season -2 ?. Anjali pls bring this fast we are eagerly waiting for Sana stories.
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Well, nothing about season 2 has/have been reached me, yet. I will update once it does. 🙂
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But sana was telling she already sent you and it’s under review. Please bring atleast one story for a week Anjali. These days you are talking too long to post a story. last story is on Dec 17th. A CD tales fan request
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Hi, The upcoming story is not the Season 2 of Making of Housewife. It’s a different one. There are a few additional works that Anjali needs to do before publishing the story, which will take some time. I am sure it will be there in a few days. Thanks for understanding.
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Thank you for staying in the fan zone. I really appreciate it. And I will try to be more frequent in the coming days. 🙂
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Thank you, Sana Sri! I’m really glad you liked this story. I was trying to soften the landing of Shailaja in version 2 🙂
Needless to say, I loved reading ‘Making of a housewife’ – a lovely story in the RR genre!
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Thanks Arthi ❤️
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Dear Arthivk you are one of the very best story writers here. You give logical reasons for the character’s actions in different situations. Its long time since i see such matured writing skills. Your adding nose piercing and the nose pin/studs to the man turns woman is excellent. Nose Pin is the most feminine jewel for any woman. When a man is forcefully made to undergo nose piercing followed by made to were different kinds of nose studs/ pins and rings is the most emotional thing In stories like this. Your writing brings out the feeling so well. Congrats.
Ranjitha
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Thank you, Ranjitha! Based either on a comment here or on Arthi’s Ramblings, it was Anjali who suggested that I add nose piercing into the plot. All credit to her for the suggestion. Glad you liked the story!
It has been exactly a year since this story was posted! Time flies 😳
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Dear I have a small request for you
If you have any contact with Anjali so please tell her that we are waiting so long for her stories
I didn’t want any new story from her but just complete old stories
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This story is awesome. This is the first time I am reading this. AWESOME.
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Thank you!
-Arthi
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