guiltydummyblog

When Devina emailed me to be part of her #bodypositive campaign I couldn't decide if I am the right person to address this issue. I didn't want to sound hypocritical. I will be the first to confess that I have a love-hate-relationship with my body. Being a fat-chubby-kid I have a hard time seeing myself any other way. But with age and experience I have learnt that there are way more important things in life than, say my waist-size. 

Whilst I will never compromise on the ‘joys’ of life (aka chocolate and pizza) but I am willing to sign-up for a lifelong mission to lead a healthy life. I don’t have the willpower to swear-off chocolate cake for life but I do have the dedication to make sure that I deserve it. I think taking care of my body, working out and and leading an overall healthy lifestyle has helped me gain a positive attitude towards my body. It is no more about “being thin”. It is about being healthy and strong. If I take care of my body today, there is a good chance that it will take care of me in my later years. 

Having said that, there is no reason to hate your body. It is, after all, what keeps us going. Just don’t take it for granted!

Miss Guilty Notes: Thank you Tanvi for telling us all that there is absolutely no reason in this world to hate one's own body! We have all got to look beyond imperfections and yet love ourselves.You truly are gorgeous in every way. The next time someone tells a plus size girl' to go eat a salad' or a skinny girl to 'go eat a sandwich' just tell that person to drink a warm glass of "shut the hell up." I am proud to present to you guys an all new real girls campaign, #BodyPositive. If you too, have a story to share or have struggled for acceptance or you have found your calling or you just want to be featured here then please drop a line on devina@guiltybytes.com or just drop a comment, I will get back to you!

I believe there is no objective definition of a “good” body or a “perfect” body. As an individual when I see young girls around me who starve (literally) to lose weight so as to “fit” in their peer group, it disheartens me, for the fact to what level of idiosyncrasy and loss of self confidence have these girls gone. Social perception and the desire to be universally accepted can make people take extreme steps and they are not always for the better. Why our self esteem is so easily affected by what people think of our body? Is the world actually this shallow? Or fitting into societal norms is the only way of feeling good about ourselves? It’s shocking to see how these cliché and stereotype opinions of what is “beautiful” or what is “fashionable” prevail in the society. A society, which benchmarks our “freedom of expression” only on papers. 

I have been skinny for most part of my life. Thanks to the repeated comments and taunts from my family, extended family, friends; it was quite early in my adolescent years that I had developed a boundary wall to repel all sorts of statements that came bombarding me. Yes, I was scoffed with the cliché things like “Khati nahi hai na kuch isliye”, “Do you buy clothes from kid’s section?” (I am 5’7 and I really salute people’s sense of approximation of height and weight. Good lord, not even petite, kids? Really?). Before getting into the gravity of the problem, the first thing people need to understand here is, if someone is skinny that by no way means she/he doesn’t eat or is starving or is anorexic. Trust me, of everything else, what hurt me the most was when one of my college friends told me “Are you sure you don’t have anorexia?” I was shunned into pieces. My self confidence shattered in a whiff of second. Getting accustomed to my body was not big an issue as it was to my skin. I was born with a terrible skin. And I hated it. The biggest struggle in my life was getting my skin in order. I always ran away from pictures in marriages, parties etc.  I was very envious of other girls who had a skin to die for. 

I must confess it took me a lot of years to finally sink in the fact that it all incepts from your mind. People look at you, the way you want them to look at you. Not that my skin has changed much or improved till date, but what has definitely improved is my confidence. And to say the least, now when someone tells me “Oh! What are you doing for your skin?” My first response is “Exactly the same thing you are doing for your brain” Rude? No. Necessary? Yes. 

A perfect body/skin is basically grounded in a mind set. Coming from a family of doctors, I surely am not in favour of being unnecessarily fat and obese, for it has a lot of bad consequences on your health. But being healthy, most importantly, should be the idea of a girl of every age. If you hear you’re fat or skinny from people around, you’re likely to believe so.  Believe what your heart says. Acceptance of your body shape and type and understanding its diversity will get you a long way with confidence and maturity. 

Embrace yourself.