The last one week was really horrid for me. Why? Well, I checked
my weight last Sunday and my weight happened to be x which was perfect for my age and height. On Tuesday, a health
camp was set up at my work place and I walked in for overall check up only to
know that my weight had gone up to x+3.
Although, x+3 also happened to fall in the normal range of BMI, this wasn’t a
great sign by health standards among other things.
My torment began more in the form of anxiety as I have a
challenge - I cannot diet. Not that I am fond of food or something but I just
can’t cut down on my meals. And, I can’t really exercise much - backache and
all that, you see.
While I was really evaluating plausible options to reduce
the extra pounds, I happened to stumble upon several articles and posts online.
Call it a sign of the universe or just timing
but, these posts had me pondering for more than my own weight.
Almost a year ago, I got to know of a colleague who faced a
really hard time emotionally after having a child. Besides post-partum depression
her husband started avoiding her, in public and in privacy. While this went on
for almost three to four months, one fine day she confronted him only to be
told that she wasn’t presentable enough to earn his love. My heart ached for
this woman while she went on a severe diet program and also became an active
consumer of several beauty products.
There is another husband who insisted on doing a doggy-style only to avoid the sight of
his wife’s belly fat. His wife also took to several exercise programs at a
neighbourhood gym only to gain more weight and develop several health
complications. Incidentally, this woman was under-weight and didn’t really have
much to lose.
And then there was a girlfriend who after almost a decade
long relationship with her partner, decided to put him on a diet followed by a
popular Hindi film star. This man, too, kept up with her antics for nearly two
years before finally giving up on the diet and this woman.
Just when I was thinking that I am being too judgmental and
that these instances are one in a million, I read this account of a woman whose
husband switched off the lights while making love as he found her fat and ugly.
With such experiences in my bag, I was indeed surprised to
read the letter of a husband to a photographer complaining that with Photoshop she
took away everything that makes up their life.
I was all the more surprised to read the account where Pierce
Brosnan threatened to divorce his wife if she went ahead with a liposuction.
The real problem, I feel sometimes, is in the portrayal of
individuals in films and television. We fail to realize that most people we see
on the silver screen earn their bread and butter out of their physical appearance.
Among those, too, are actors like Kate Winslet who embrace their body and age
to save average individuals from poor body image.
Amazing is the fact that we are all educated individuals who
know the difference between films and real life, and yet we succumb to such
notions to make our lives none less than hell.
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