Biography: Aryan Pasha’s journey from childhood gender dysphoria to being a transgender bodybuilder

The year 2000, the turn of the century, proved to be a landmark in many ways. The world did not end, as it was predicted. With the arrival of the internet in the 1990s, unverified news and hoaxes were doing the rounds. One claim held that the year, nicknamed Y2K, would witness a “millennium bug” that would cause chaos globally. Planes were expected to fall from the sky, computers were to reset themselves and missiles were to fire on their own. But like many doomsday prophesies, this one fell flat as well.

Naiyla’s world, however, did crumble around her in the years that followed.

Despite the anger, altercations and questions about her gender, Naiyla had not been able to accept life as a girl. She knew she was a boy, but people around her were hell-bent on proving otherwise. She kept the reality of her body buried deep inside by wearing boys’ clothes, keeping her hair short and hanging around with boys. That was until the day her body made it impossible for her to ignore it.

At 13 years of age, when she was in Class Seven, Naiyla had begun to menstruate. “I always knew that I was a boy. But when...

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