Weighty Issues

When we women are not obsessing about our age, we are busy obsessing about our weight. If the word “aunty” hurts, the word “fatty” kills us! Like we are not burdened with enough weighty issues as we grow older, weight itself becomes an issue to some of us. I do watch my weight……………………..increase by the day.

When a man gets fatter, it is deemed as a sign of success. People say, “he must be doing very well for himself” and even congratulate him on looking so well. But if it is a woman, they will say, “lazy woman must be doing nothing that is why she’s becoming a cow” and if you are single and fat, they will say, “Oh poor dear, she must be in depression and must be seeking comfort in food”. What double standards!

Last week I met my college friend and she greeted me with “hey, you have become so fat!” The same friend, when I met her two years back, said that I looked just like I was in college. How much can change in so little a time? Where did all the fat come from?

But last month, when two of my school buds and I jammed up over coffee, I was delighted to hear and see that I have not changed as much as they! They made pears look slimmer! They are single but are doing well, so what does all the excessive fat signify: happiness, or laziness, or depression!

Two contradicting remarks, so does this prove that I am fat or not? Einstein would have agreed with me that being fat is just a theory of relativity. Your being fat or slim depends on your companion. If you are in a company of fat people, you feel you are slim but if you are in a company of those stick insects, you feel like a big bug and wish to be squished. There I have proved my theory!

Now another friend is coming down from the UK next month and I have decided to shed a few grams coz another remark of “fatty” is too much for my weak heart!

I never thought that meeting old friends would turn into a harrowing ordeal. So here’s my tip to others: Always do your homework. Ask your friends to send you their pictures, so you can decide whether you will get busy when they are visiting (if they are on the right side of the scales) or not! But again, if they are smarter than thou, they will most probably send you long-shot picture or some other pic taken during their slim days.