A eunuch's tale from the slums
A glimpse into their secretive world
By Marianne Bray
CNN

MUMBAI, India (CNN) -- It was 4 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon in Mumbai, and I was off to a slum to talk to a eunuch.

An undercover constable and a social worker were leading the way. As we passed the stalls that fringed the outside of the Chembur Vashi Naka slum, I wondered just what I had got myself into.

Also known as hijras, they have ambiguous backgrounds, some of them intersexual, others born male and fail to develop, with gay men and transsexuals also included in their ranks, according to experts who have worked with the community.