Achintya Rao’s Now Page

As of 25 October 2025.

Mental health

In my last update a couple of months ago, I noted that my mental health has been in the gutter since mid-April, when the UK’s supreme court decided to toss transgender rights in the bin. Well, add xenophobia and racism in the UK to the increasing transphobia, because things are not looking good. As a transgender immigrant, I sit at the intersection of two kinds of visceral hate that people across the country are openly expressing, and I have never before felt afraid for my life.

I wrote a blog post about my recent experiences as a transgender woman – A tale of two five-letter words – before the racists and flag-shaggers properly kicked off. But I am far from the only one with these experiences. Here are two related reports with testimonials from both transgender and cisgender people across the country that I think are worth reading, but brace yourself for some pretty depressing stuff: (1) Trans segregation in practice: Experiences of trans segregation following the Supreme Court ruling and (2) A community living in fear: LGBTQ+ people’s responses to the Supreme Court Ruling on the Equality Act.

I hope I am able to find a job in a friendlier European country for the sake of not just my mental health but also my physical well-being.

Lost bag: the update!

My last update came a day after I left my backpack on a bus in Bristol, back in early August. I had submitted a lost-property form, but was informed a working week later that they had closed the enquiry because they hadn’t found my bag in that time.

All that changed a week ago, when almost exactly two months after I had lost it, I was contacted by e-mail by someone from the bus company, who said that my bag was in their office in a town about 1.5 hours from home. I went there the very next day and was thrilled to find my bag, with most of its contents still in it – only my multitool was missing. Hell, the tablet still had 10% charge and the power bank was over 75% full! Apparently, it had been sitting in that office the entire time, and my enquiry had slipped through the cracks. I am still a bit shocked that I retrieved it, and my partner and I went out for celebratory drinks when I got back.

Recent stuff

Cricket season is over and choir practice has resumed after the summer break. I had a mixed time at cricket this season, because of those aforementioned mental-health struggles, but my club is full of lovely people, so it was enjoyable spending my Saturdays with them.

My partner and I have lived in our new flat for over three months now, in a posher part of town, and are taking full advantage of it. We have befriended neighbourhood cats, identified where the best bird-watching spots are, gone for wanders to the river, and stuck our noses into charity shops full of fancy second-hand clothes.

A musical manifesto

And speaking of charity shops, we recently spotted – in the words of my partner – a “sad-looking clarinet” in the window of one a few weeks ago. It had clearly seen better days, so my partner decided to take it upon herself to restore it to its former glory. This inspired her to write a little guest post for my blog, which I hope you will read and enjoy: Repair musical instruments and make your own! – a manifesto.

Pursuits

(I will keep this section largely unchanged – unless the pursuits have been achieved! – as a reminder to myself.)

My aim for this year is to acquire a UK driving licence. I don’t need or want one, but it would come in handy if I ever have to rent a car. It is a shame that, having driven in Europe for around a decade with not so much as a parking ticket, I cannot simply exchange my Indian licence. I understand why, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating. Update: This is looking less and less likely, given that I haven’t even managed to take my theory test so far.

For what feels like forever, I have been helping Amanda with her English translation of an old and famous Finnish text. The translation has been complete for a while, and I intend to finish editing it sometime this year, before starting work on formatting the final piece for various platforms.