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Most of us are defined as male or female at birth,

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but there are people in all corners of the globe who defy such categorization.

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They're referred to as transgenders, and they often live on the edges of society,

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where they struggle against stigma, violence, and increasingly,

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the devastation brought on by HIV and AIDS.

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Now the story of one transgender in India,

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whose life has been shaped by rejection and her courageous battle for acceptance.

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She is known as Aunt Nuri, a loving woman to these AIDS orphans.

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But Nuri's life has been marked by years of pain.

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In my mind, I know that I'm a woman.

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But as a transgendered person, I have suffered a lot in society.

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Like other transgenders, Nuri considers herself female,

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even though she was born with a male body.

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In southern India, people like her are called Aravannis.

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Nuri's search for her identity is a struggle to overcome unimaginable suffering

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and a triumph of extraordinary courage and resilience.

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Born in a village in southern India,

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Nuri started to display a feminine behavior at the age of 10.

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My neighbors made fun of me, telling my father,

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Your son is like a girl. He used to beat me badly.

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When Nuri was 13 years old, her parents, upset by her behavior, stripped her,

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then poured sugar syrup on her and left her tied to a tree with an army of ants on her body.

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A neighbor took pity on her, gave her clothes, and told her to leave the village.

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That was the last time she saw her family.

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Like many Aravannis, Nuri was forced to leave home,

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eventually settling in Chennai, the capital of India's southern state of Tamil Nadu.

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Life was not easy.

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They called me names. They treated me worse than a dog, and that really hurt my heart.

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Aravannis were revered in India.

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They claimed to be descendants of Lord Krishna.

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In an Indian myth, a warrior named Aravann wanted to get married on the eve of his fatal battle.

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But as no woman would agree to marry him,

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Lord Krishna transformed himself into a woman to fulfill his wish.

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At one time, transgenders were accepted by society,

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says Asha Bharati, a leading activist for Aravanni rights.

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In the ancient days, there were transgenders.

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I can give very good proof from the literature, from the history,

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that we were treated equally in the society.

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Because of our transgender and sexuality, we were not discriminated.

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The discrimination started only after the British rule.

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Under colonial rule, Indian leaders passed a law prohibiting homosexuality.

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The law is still in effect in India today.

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Aravannis are often subjected to harassment and discrimination.

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Asha started the first Aravanni association in Tamil Nadu,

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demanding the rights to gender change and equal treatment.

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Why we be discriminated?

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And we are punished for the fault of nature, but none.

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We should be penalized.

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We are not a special creature come to the earth from any other planet.

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Do we have two hands? We are like you.

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The number of transgenders in India is estimated at between 500,000 to over 1 million.

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Some conceal their identities and lead a double life.

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Others live openly.

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Others live openly.

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Some Aravannis choose castration as a definitive way to become a woman.

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There is an intuition, always having an inner voice in the heart.

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I want to be a female, I want to be a female.

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And they go to any extent to establish their femininity.

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Living as outcasts on the edge of society, Aravannis created their own world,

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family networks of adopted mothers and daughters in tight-knit communities.

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Asha is the adopted mother of Anitha, and Anitha adopted Ashwini as her daughter.

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Their house is also a short stay home for Aravannis in need.

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They share a strong commitment to each other.

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This is my family. I have a daughter, a mother and sisters.

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If anything happens to them, I will be anxious.

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But if my real parents get sick, I won't.

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Stigmatized by society, jobs are hard to come by.

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Many make their living by dancing and begging from shops.

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Each day, Ashwini and her friends walk about five kilometers going to at least a hundred shops.

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If they are lucky, they make a hundred rupees, about two U.S. dollars.

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To survive, many turn to commercial sex work.

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Nori was one of them.

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In 1987, she became infected with HIV.

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When she publicly disclosed her health status to a newspaper, she was rejected once again,

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this time by her fellow Aravannis.

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They said, why did you go to the media? You're hurting our profession.

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They tried to pour gasoline on me and burn me alive.

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That was the turning point in Nori's life.

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Ostracized by other Aravannis, she abandoned sex work to become a peer worker

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to help those afflicted with HIV AIDS.

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Again, she faced discrimination.

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Several NGOs refused to hire me.

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They said, you're an Aravani, you'll not work properly.

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These transgender groups, they have come and told me

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that they were beaten up by police earlier, several years back.

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Supriya Sahu is project director of the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society.

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Because whenever they used to go and talk to the community about condom usage,

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or about safe sex practices, you know, people never used to understand

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what are these people doing in the community.

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India, with a booming economy, is undergoing rapid modernization.

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But tradition still holds sway.

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Social attitudes towards sex and morality remain largely conservative.

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With a population of a billion people,

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the country now has the highest rate of HIV infection in the world,

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an estimated 5.7 million cases.

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To halt the spread of the AIDS epidemic,

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the government is making efforts to reach out to the communities most affected by HIV.

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Nori is a key ally in this fight.

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By standing up for the rights of people living with HIV

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at conferences both at home and abroad,

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Nori has called attention to the situation of Aravannis,

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fighting for their recognition and for their equal rights.

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We need to bring them out together, build their capacity,

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make them get trained in some kind of a vocational trade,

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so that they are economically independent,

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they are standing on their own feet,

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they don't have to go for begging or to get involved in sex work.

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In 2001, with support from UNAIDS,

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Nori founded her own organization to provide care,

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not only to Aravannis, but to anyone struggling with HIV.

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I live as part of the general community.

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No one discriminates against me.

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My friends and neighbors do not look at me differently as an Aravanni.

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And when they call me mommy or auntie,

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that makes me happy.

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Nori has been on antiretroviral therapy for the last three years.

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Her organization, the South India Positive Network,

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now provides care to over 1,700 people living with HIV.