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Overcoming Hurdles, Creating New Path 

ISP Cochin Bureau 

Padma Lakshmi is the first transgender to be enrolled as a lawyer in Kerala. A graduate from the Ernakulam Government Law College, she became a law graduate recently and was given her provisional certificate as an advocate. Justice C S Dias who was the guest on the occasion during the enrollment ceremony and Kerala’s Law Minister P Rajeeve have put in a special word of appreciation for Lakshmi’s achievement of creating a new path amid adversities.

Padma Lakshmi’s entry to the galaxy of lawyers in the State is a matter of pride for the Bar Council of Kerala. In his message posted on his Instagram, Minister P. Rajeeve lauded her for being the first transgender to be enrolled as a lawyer after overcoming all the hurdles on her way. He said that she has made a mark in the history of the legal profession and she would soon be the voice of the transgender community which had been denied justice for long. 

Many in the legal fraternity have also expressed hope that Lakshmi’s success would be an inspiration for others from the transgender community to take up the legal profession. Higher Education Minister of the R. Bindu has said that Lakshmi has faced obstacles galore in her journey. But she preserved, never letting any naysayer deter or weigh her down.

Padma Lakshmi is a graduate in Physics and she dedicates the legal career success to her parents who stood by her like a rock through it all. “It was not my fight. It was my parents’ fight. They gave me the confidence to choose my own path. If parents stand by their children like mine did, no one would dare pull down the child with negative comments,” she told the media on the day of her graduation. To pay for her expenses including the hormone therapy to correct her gender anomalies, she worked as an insurance agent and took home tuition. 

She has two elder sisters who are employed as an accountant and as an Assistant Professor. She worked hard to clear the prestigious CLAT entrance exam to get admission to the Law college in 2019. Padma Lakshmi got trained under the wing of advocate Bhadra Kumari K V of the Kerala High Court, a famous lawyer in Kerala. 

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