Munch Ado About Something

Circa 25th Jan 2014, Saturday 'yours truly' was aboard a 20:05  Thane local from CST when at Byculla (and I refrain from the pretense of being politically correct here.. I mean, I'm a self certified self proclaimed skinny and there aren't two ways about it) haan so back to the story -- at Byculla a rather obese woman hopped in and plonked right beside me.

Needless to say she had two dozen pair of eyes on her.

And she was...well, munching on some biscuits. I looked back at the 'audience'.
Something felt vaguely familiar.

For all those times I'm the one rounding up an 'audience', I realized I'd done so because at such points in time I'd turned down the offer to well, munch!

And the 'audience' has that same distinct unwelcoming look about their eyes.

They judge her for eating since she's obese
They judge me for not eating since I'm skinny

Why though..?
You're obese so you're not supposed to get hungry?
You're skinny so you're supposed to induce hunger at all times?

The satirical twist to this is that even someone like me,  who takes a dig at her own skinny-ness and at people misconstrued-ness (all in good jest), does a happy dance of her own if someone says either of the following:
"You've gained weight"
"You eat so much"
"You're lucky you can wolf down your favorites without being bothered"
And that^^ to me reeks of something sinister -- to be uncategorized as skinny/lean/thin.. to disown an identity.. my own identity

And I see glimpses of this all around me.. same ole eternal grass is greener on the other side -- obese want to get skinny, skinny want to be anything but skin and bones; the White bask in the sun to get tanned, the un-Whites are going in for whitening creams...

May be I should go grab that midnight snack than be up mulling over these first world problems of mine!

WANT: S.P.A.C.E.

It’s ironic how we live in a country where politeness, general niceties and simple manners are not only just taken for granted but more often than not even chucked straight out of the window! It seldom baffles us when someone tries to push their way through (literally and figuratively) and even makes it through. Our reaction, "Hmph! Yet another 'Tu mere baap ko nahi jaanta hai' lout."

Well to each their own.

Live and let live.

Let live!
Even if that person next to you is reed stick thin!

So when you see (it’s not that difficult) and hear this aforementioned caricaturish creature next to you or around you in semi claustrophobic spaces (read: railway stations, for instance), please hear them out and budge a bit.

They definitely don't have a beer belly nor hips the size of a Martian spaceship...perhaps their demeanour ain't half or even quarter as terrifying or intimidating -- but that doesn't imply or give you the gawd damned right to stay un-budged!

I've been there.

Urging for a lil more than a strip of space especially because there is that extra space.

This gross misunderstanding that skinny folks can wriggle their way out is a misnomer. We could be lugging a backpack three times our size and that's nobody's business. 

There's space. You simply make way.

If there's place to sit, you shift completely - not only how much you estimate the skinny folk to occupy. 

Some of us might be accommodating personalities.

But our physicality needs breathing and moving space. Refrain from cramming us like poultry on their way to the slaughterhouse.

Because when push comes to shove we can do that mighty well - given that our elbows have no fat caps to soften those blows.

After all ain't it the size of the fight in the dog that counts? Phir matth kehna 'Dhakka kyun maara" *grin*

Hashtag: Adam Teasing

Commuting from work on my way back home, I was walking up the foot over bridge trying to find the narrowest way out from the sluggish mob to my way to the top. I still cannot seem to fathom why humans move as directionless-ly (if not more) than cattle itself? It'll continue to be my grouse until the day I'm buried six feet beneath the earth. More on that some other time though...

So yeah, here I was trying to find my way when lo and behold I was most surprised ( and a bit overawed) to find myself right behind a guy with a waist so thin I had to look up to the back of his head to make sure he was really a HE! You know what I mean.

And then I posted this statement as an update: So if I see a guy with the narrowest waist ever and make a comment about it -- is it #AdamTeasing?

Funny as it may sound, for a moment I found myself wondering whether I was really guilty of something?

Or is it that gender stereotypes are so firmly engraved within our 'thoughtDNA' that it's okay to look the other way, if it's the reverse.
Take for instance a situation where a woman is crying. No one stops to make a big deal about it. It's okay for women to cry. A man cries and it's a big deal in the most unpleasant way for that guy. Gender stereotypes. Period.

In that same vein, I am yet to read anything about anorexic men. Or skinny men. It's almost as if they don't exist. But they do. This one (with a waist-line thinner than 'yours truly' was for real!).

Any one any thoughts?

When 'Skinniness' and Mumbai locals meet...

Mumbai locals. Love 'em? Hate 'em? Cannot ignore 'em! And since I have to commute the length and breadth of the city, my 'skinniness' doesn't go ignored either!!

Random Day One:
Peak hour rush. It's the first thing in the morning but the sweat and grime of the humid city already makes the day unbearable. Add to that, the burgeoning crowded train.
So there I am standing, no wait, struggling to fit my tiny itsy-bitsy frame on one centimetre of floor space but it seems largely unaffordable. Irony.
What I have next to me is a rather large, healthy woman decked up in all her finery with her rounded elbows in my sides. I'm ignoring it. But just as I am soothing my nerves allowing the music to take over me, I 'think' I hear muffled voices.
My very 'ample' co-commuter seems to be speaking to me. I unplug and here's what ensued:
Ample Lady: "You are pushing me. Your entire 'weight' is on me. Why can't you stand properly? BLAH BLAH BLAH..."
A-very-Zen-Not-so-ample me: "Thank you"
Ample Lady: *Aghast* What do you mean 'Thank you'?
A-very-Zen-Not-so-ample me: Well, simply thank you. *Smiles*
Ample Lady: "Huh?"
A-very-Zen-Not-so-ample me: "How else do you expect me to react to you yelling at me the first thing in the morning. So all I have to say to you is 'Thank you'.
Ample Lady: *Stares ferociously*
A-very-Zen-Not-so-ample me: "Quit staring. Your station's here. Alight and get off" *Smiles*
PEACE ENSUED!

Random Day Two:
Same old Mumbai Local. Same old crowd. Same sweat and grime. Same old Not-so-ample me. Same old quarrel for one centimetre foot space. SIGH. But this time it's another co-commuter!
Co-commuter: "Don't push."
A-very-zapped-Not-so-ample me: "Just look at my size. You really think that even if I tried to push you I'd succeed?"
END OF DISCUSSION!


Random Day Three:
Same old...
Co-commuter picks on me because of my bag. It's a backpack. And I can be a snail with my house on my back on some days.
Irked co-commuter: "Look at the rush and look at this one (hinting at me) pushing around with her big bag. There's no space for the rest of us and here she comes in with her big bag!"
A-very-entertained-Not-so-ample me: "The size of the bag is to compensate for the areas that I lack when it comes to size."
SUCCESSFUL CLOSE OF DISCUSSION