VIDEO: Meet Devina Keswani, The First Grader Transitioning From Male to Female
Get to know the youngest Keswani, who came out as transgender at just 5 years old
Watch the video!
Source: People
Who are the Keswanis?
If you weren’t already familiar with the stellar Vine work of “Big Nik” Keswani, you’ve at least heard a lot about him this week on PEOPLE.com. Recently, Vine star BigNik revealed some “life lessons” he’s learned from his 6-year-old sister Devina, who identifies as transgender.
“We really accept her,” he told PEOPLE. “We found out one day she submitted a project in class and the teacher was very concerned.
This wonderfully unconventional gang of five, as featured in this week’s issue of PEOPLE, includes ‘momager’ Vaishali, “doctor dad” Anil, and their three children – each of whom brings a whole new meaning to family fun.
“There’s a lot of funny stuff in our family,” Nik Keswani, better known as “Big Nik” on Vine, told PEOPLE Now. “A lot of people have told us ‘You guys could be a show,’ and I’d say, ‘Well, if someone hits me up about it, sure!’
The show – which features all five members of the not-so-normal family, including mom Vaishali, dad Anil, social media star Nik, budding beauty queen Sarina and transgender first-grader Devina – follows the crew as they navigate Nik’s impending departure for college, Sarina’s bikini photo shoots and pageants and Devina’s transition from male to female.A few years ago, the 17-year-old star of PEOPLE.com’s new web series, The Keswanis, underwent surgery on his legs, hips and ankles – a procedure that dad Anil is just one of “over a dozen” surgeries Nik has had through the years.
Nik, who has also lost his vision in one eye due to retinal detachment, which is common for kids with his form of dwarfism, recalls
“I worked in the intensive care unit, and I’ve cared for a ton of people when they’re sick or they’re dying, but I’ve never sat with my own child,” says Anil. “And you’re sitting there with your child, really helpless.” “It was completely awful, I felt like I was in hell,” “One day I just got really bored, I was sitting in my wheelchair and started making a video and two months later, it just blew up,” says Nik. “That’s how I started Vine.” “You don’t have to be big in height to be big, you just have to have a big personality,” he tells PEOPLE in the magazine’s latest issue, on newsstands Friday.
It’s always comforting to find out that someone knows what you’re going through – especially when that person has found a way to turn those feelings and experiences into comedy. And if there’s one thing you take away from his videos, he’d like it to be this: The 17-year-old told PEOPLE at Stream Con in New York City on Friday that he first realized he’d made it “when one of my posts [#homealone] jumped from 100 likes to 10,000 likes.” And the rest is history. In the middle is Sarina, 15, a budding pageant contestant who’s navigating the emotional ups and downs of being a teenager – and learning to pose in a bikini.
Smart, precocious and mature beyond her years, Devina’s journey – and her determination to be true to herself – is both inspiring and irresistible.
Source:news-entertainment.net
