‘We Will Keep Clapping till the End’: <i>Hijra</i> Narratives on Their <i>Taali</i>

The hijras are a hypervisible gender-transgressive community in India. Their hypervisibility is courtesy of their sartorial and ritual practices, a particular discipleship-kinship organisation, and liminal moments of public presence and assertion. One of the ways in which the public recognises a hijra individual is through the clap—the taali, which it sees as profane. In this article, we provide a counter-text against commonsensical notions of the taali by documenting narratives from hijra individuals and transgender women closely associated with the hijra subculture. In doing so, we demonstrate the role of this embedded and embodied practice in shaping hijra belongingness and resistance.