Book excerpt: The extraordinary and courageous journey of a transgender to define her identity and set new standards of achievement. When a boy was born in the Bandhopadhyay family, all rejoiced. A son had been born after two girls and finally the conservative father could boast about having sired a son. However, it wasn’t long before the little boy began to feel inadequate in his own body and began questioning his own identity: Why did he constantly feel like he was a girl even when he had male parts? Why was he attracted to boys in a way that girls are? What could he do to stop feeling so incomplete? It was clearly a cruel joke of destiny which the family refused to acknowledge. But unknown to them, the boy had already begun his journey to becoming Manobi—the quintessential female, as nature meant for her to be. With unflinching honesty and deep understanding, Manobi tells the moving story of her transformation from a man to a woman; about how she continued to pursue her academics despite the severe upheavals and went on to become the first transgender principal of a girls’ college. And in doing so, she did not just define her own identity, but also inspired her entire community.