Museum of a Living Khwaja Sira: A Hybrid Memoir in Nine Exhibits

By Namkeen Peshawri 

Please do not whisper.  

Everything in this museum is still alive.  

Nothing here was rescued from ancient ruins. These objects belong to a woman still walking the streets of Peshawar, still laughing with her sisters, still praying, still protesting, still writing. If you touch these memories gently, perhaps you will leave understanding that history is not only preserved in books—it also survives in bodies that refused to disappear. 

Exhibit One: A Broken Bangle 

A broken green bangle rests beneath the glass. It fell onto a street in Peshawar while I was running from men who believed ridicule was entertainment. The bangle did not break because it was fragile. It broke because it absorbed the force meant for me. Whenever I see broken glass now, I no longer think of fear. I think of survival. 

Exhibit Two: My First Lipstick 

I hid my first lipstick inside the pocket of my shalwar. I wore it only in places where no one knew my family. It was not vanity; it was permission. A single stroke of colour reminded me that joy can be an act of resistance. 

Exhibit Three: My Guru's Voice 

There is no photograph here, only an empty chair and a recording. My Guru once told me, 'Never apologise for existing.' In our Khwaja Sira community, knowledge travels through conversations, songs, blessings and stories. Our elders are libraries without shelves. 

Exhibit Four: A Prayer Mat 

The prayer mat carries invisible stains from tears. I learned that faith and exclusion are not the same thing. My relationship with God remained intact even when people questioned my place in places of worship. 

Exhibit Five: Dancing Anklets 

People often remember us only as dancers at weddings. They forget that every performance carried generations of tradition, labour and dignity. These anklets echo with laughter, exhaustion and the determination to keep celebrating life. 

Exhibit Six: A WHO Identity Card 

This badge opened conference rooms where people first noticed my title and later my story. I carried it with pride because representation matters. It reminded me that a transgender woman from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa could sit at decision-making tables without leaving her identity behind.

Exhibit Seven: A Safe House Key 

This small key unlocked nights of safety for transgender sisters escaping violence. A room with a lock can become the beginning of healing. 

Exhibit Eight: A Notebook 

The notebook contains unfinished poems, names of people I have met, fragments of oral histories and dreams for a kinder future. Every page insists that our memories deserve preservation. 

Exhibit Nine: An Empty Frame 

The frame is intentionally empty. The label reads: 'Reserved for the next Khwaja Sira child who refuses to disappear.' History is still being written. 

Exit 

At the end of the exhibition stands a mirror. The plaque beside it reads:

When you leave this museum, do not remember me as an exhibit. Remember that somewhere, someone is still fighting to become visible. If you witnessed these stories, you are now responsible for carrying them forward.

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Namkeen Peshawri is a Pakistani Khwaja Sira (transgender woman), writer, poet, artist, and transgender rights activist from Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. She is the founder of Trans Support Group Pakistan, a grassroots organization working to advance gender justice, human rights, community protection, HIV advocacy, and social inclusion. Over the past decade, she has collaborated with national and international organizations to strengthen the rights and visibility of marginalized communities. Her creative practice brings together memoir, oral history, poetry, theatre, and visual storytelling to explore identity, memory, faith, and resilience. Through her work, she seeks to preserve community histories while imagining more inclusive futures where every person is free to exist with dignity. Follow Namkeen on Instagram: @grouptranssupport