Extorsion comes in many guises in India. In West Bengal it is the Communist party. You have bought a new car, built a house, want your son admitted to a good school, you have to pay, what is known politely, as a donation to the party. In Bombay there are the gangs. Whether Dawood Ibrahim, Chota Shakeel or any other Bhai you get a phone call telling you that you have just bought a new car for five million rupees so put fifty thousand in a bag and give it to our man without any trouble because we know which school your son goes to and what he looks like. However no one pays any attention to the biggest extortion that is carried out openly and is ubiquitous. I am talking about transvestites or 'hijras' as they are known in local parlance. If you have a new house, a new baby or if there is a marriage in y0ur house these creatures invariably turn up demanding money with threats and abuses. There is nothing physically wrong with them. They have no handicap, they have no chromosomal or genetic abnormality or any hormonal mixup. They are normal men, usually strong and muscular, clean shaven and dressed either in a sari or in salwar kurta. They will sing and dance off tune, create a lot of noise and will demand huge sums of money. No one dare refuse them because they will use filthy language and may throw rubbish, even faeces, at you. The police will not register any complaint against these horrible creatures. Clearly the municipality, where they are provided the information in the first place, and the police are in with them and you are forced to pay money because these men decide to dress as women. And so it goes on.