Simlaguri village, Assam:
Long before homosexuality was decriminalised by a Delhi High Court ruling, two girls from a remote village of Kokrajhar in lower Assam went ahead and got married defying stigma and discrimination.
Marking in their own way the gay rights movement, this despite being under tremendous social pressure to conform.
By sunrise Roinachi gets busy cleaning the fish that she sells in the local market. By then her spouse Thingring has already left for the paddy field.
Twenty five years ago, Thingring fell in love with Roinachi who was serving as a domestic help in a family which allegedly tortured her. They soon married in a temple with Hindu rites. A shocked Fakiraguri village which had not even heard of gay relationships immediately ostracised them. They moved home and settled down in nearby Simlaguri village.
"Had we feared we couldn't have got married," said Thingring, husband.
They say it's a marriage made in heaven.
"We have never had any marital discord. We are very happy together," said Roinachi, wife.
Though same-sex relationship is still considered illegitimate, Simlaguri has slowly come to accept Roinachi and Thingring.
In a country where women are yet to be completely liberated, Thingring and Roinachi have gone that extra mile by marrying, displaying a rare boldness, much before homosexuality was even debated.
Today they are not just happily married but their conviction has even led to social acceptance.
But it was a struggle to even find work and survive. The government has given them a job card but people are no longer employing them for hard labour. After a lifetime fighting discrimination they now wish they can just have a piece of land and live on their own.