One of the most prominent challenges I faced during my childhood was obesity. Being fat-shamed wasn’t one of the most fun ways to be called out. I realized the problem in my fourth grade. I, being a naïve kid, sometimes wished for my obesity to go away and didn’t work in particular towards it.
Later on as I progressed towards higher grades and adolescence kicked in, I realized that this wasn’t as small an issue as I thought of it to be. Being neglected at sports teams, mocked as the funny looking one in class and mocked around with unpleasant nicknames related to your weight got on my nerves. I reached my peak when during a Sanskrit drama, I was made a fat landlord who used to mock himself. The humor didn’t bother me but the fact that people actually connected me with the character made me realize that this was not something that I wanted to be called out my whole life.
WHENEVER YOU FACE PROBLEMS IN LIFE, LOOK THEM IN THE EYE!
I decided to join football coaching and dance classes during my 11th grade as football was my passion and dance was something that I was really conscious about. Tackling things that affected my self confidence seemed to be the difficult way but I decided to take those up anyway.
The start was tough. There were times when I felt lost, defeated and unworthy. I still kept on going and decided to complete the journey I had embarked upon. I also requested my mother to help me tame my intake of junk-food. Soon, the results started showing. I lost 20 kgs, was more confident and started participating the inter-college dance competitions and eventually winning some.
Being fit helped me gain a positive attitude in life and being thankful for the past events without which I may never have embarked on this journey of fitness. My grades improved as well and wasn’t fat shamed ever since!