Big is lovable. Fat is nice. As long as its limited to fat pay-checks, big mansions, curvy cars with big boots and soft-layered couches to watch our big TVs on. Move the discussion onto kilograms, inches and dress sizes and we are all scrambling for the smallest packages. Of course, we agree that while lots has been said about how we fat people shouldn't allow those additional layers of insulation to deflate our self-confidence levels, far too less has been done about the chunks on our hips, puffs on our cheeks and numerous chins we see in the mirror. Then, like a sprinkling of insult to injured egos there are the wry “Precious” jokes floating around poking fun at actors and their bonus layers and closer home we've heard cruder takes on Fatrina Waif and Vidya Balloon.
Fine, we've all had our digs at the fat, but does that mean all is hunky dory for the skinny folks around? Is the buffet table about seeing us fatties waddling around with starch-and-carbohydrates brimming out of our plates, and running the risk of inhaling calories from the food counter while the spindly ones sit around polishing off the cake, pudding, kheer and pies? Maybe, we are all obsessed about being overweight while there is probably a silent tribe (for the most part unseen) who quietly yearns for a few more extra pounds here and some fluff there?
“The only flip side is in the moments when one feels the need to be physically more imposing, but for the most part its great!” says Amitabh Jacob, who has remained ‘thin' for his entire life. He goes onto add, “I would think that a high percentage could be genetic or due to metabolism, but an equally high percentage is lifestyle-related and I have had a very physically active one for the last ten years which are the very years when the pounds are likely to pile on, almost irreversibly! A basic disposition towards fitness helps and I have been able to get four hours every week of very intense physical workouts for quite a few years now and am sorry to disappoint anyone who felt it was plain luck!” he quips laughing.
Another lean being, Tracy Castro, who is based in Dubai says smiling, “I have always been thin, what doctors would call ‘under-weight'. But I can tell you I was and am perfectly normal physically and happy since I eat what I want and when I want!” She adds that maybe the reason for her thin frame is her fussiness over food, and “If I don't like the taste of the food, I'm happy to stay hungry and not eat!”
She adds laughing, “But I love all the things that could make a person fat — like rice, cheese, chocolates, ice creams, and sweetmeats galore! What I feel happier about is that I feel light and I'm on my toes and energetic — I can run, walk and basically move faster than most people around!”
“Although I was always a sports freak, those extra inches seem to cling on now and I have realised the need to watch what goes down my throat because of the risk of a few inches here and a few kilos there! I guess it's only now that I can, to some extent understand how annoying ‘fat-jokes' can be,” says T. Zacharias.
So apparently, no one is unhappy about being skinny. Tracy, very succinctly putting the last nail in says, “I've had the urge of putting on a few kilos and have tried, but it doesn't work for me. But now I don't want to even try putting on weight because I have so many friends who are desperately trying to lose weight and I just feel lucky and blessed!”
