When height matters
I am a short fellow. I think say about 160 cm. And for my age and peer group, I am the odd man out.
It’s in my genes and I can’t help it. I am already taller than my parents and I do not know if I can grow taller.
I rarely used to worry about it, when I was in school. But in college it started to worry me. Reason? Read on.
In every photoshoot, I used to stand out. Well, not really. I seemed to be invisible among all the tall dudes. So, I need to make sure most of the taller ones aren’t standing in the photo, or I prefer to take the photo.
And then comes the issue of food. In our mess, we need to go near the serving place near the kitchen for an extra helping. And whenever I go for extra chappatis and dosas, I find a crowd of taller fellows and when the food comes and I show my plate, I find several others plate shooting in front of mine for extra helping. And I find no food for myself.
Well, survival of the fittest is indeed the order of the day.
Then there were issues of being humiliated for my height. At first, I took those seriously. Then I learnt, someone cracks a joke about you, insulting you. Pretend to have been unaffected by it. Smirk, smile or laugh at the joke. You laugh at yourself and no one else would even think of laughing at you again.
I am cool now. Learnt to manage humiliation and embarrasment. I have more friends now. Well, things we learn at college!
