"Big" Issues and "Tall" stories.

Dear Vandhana,
Superfluous flesh can be pared down - if not by exercise, by liposuction and surgery, then. There are remedial measures. But if you are stuck with a 5 feet 7.5 inch skeleton, there's precious little you can do except laugh at self ! Thanx for finding that "admirable" !

manjula

Dear Ragini
Thanx
There seems to be enough members here to start a 5.6 Club !
I can very well imagine that sorry scene- your poor parents having to listen to the Tut-tuts of matchmaking busybodies. Same here. Horoscopes whetted, kulam gotram credentials investigated, come to the bio and.... poof ! eligibility bubble bursts - "boy" stands 5.6 or 5.7 or just 5.3. I remember the flurry caused by one prized catch. Illustrious family, fat salary, mookkum-muzhiyuma handsome and Tan-Ta-Da ! 5.8 in height ! But..........poof again ! That boy dint feel upto seeing eye-to-eye with wife !
Anyway, as in yr. case, aint I glad too ! Now, whenever matchfinding blues start for any tall young girl of the clan, my hubby is flaunted as the supreme shining example for the belief "God makes arrangements for all. "

manjula

Dear Vidya
Thanx.Liked that neat label "pithy".

John Ab. in drag. Familiar. But ofcourse ! I laughed so much when I first encountered it that it got stapled to my brain ! Loved it. Thanx

manjula

Dear Manjula.....:)))))))))))))))

That was fun! You sure have a sense of humor and also the gift to wield words to portray that so gleefully. Ok, high five for it.
I can totally empathize with you.
Why? No no, not because I can see what you can see, only because I can't see what you can see, from down below, where I live!! Yes, I live quite a way below you, my problem being too small (ok, short!).
Like you had to beat the drum from behind at the school march pasts, I kept leading them, while my friends and fellow classmates kept growing and going back! I can tell you, it was a shock to notice that I have grown all I can and that was it!
I cannot recount my woes when all the road romeos neglected little me and threw their glances at the taller friends...they must have thought that I was in the primary school
Like you, I am eternally thankful for that great garment, the sari. Once I started wrapping them around me, somehow few things changed. Oh yes, it is a great equalizer!
And about shoes and shoe shops, the less said the better. And you are luckier there, believe me. I find it so difficult to get shoes off the rack. They are too big or too wide. While others come home with all the 'with it' sandals and shoes, I just admire them in the shop window. To live in N Germany was no help, they are giants there, mostly! Friendly shoe shop guys used to advice me to travel south where their women were built more daintily!! Hence I got this shoe-phobia. I buy shoes when I find them in my size, whether I need them or not! While other people collect rarities in their travels, I collect shoes. I can be quite a competition for the shoe lady, Marcos!
The only other advantage I can think of is that I am still being seen as younger than I am! Can't really complain about that now, can I?
One thing we must say, we cannot complain about being one amongst the crowd, we do stand apart, tall or small...what say you?

L, Kamla

Dear Manju,
Your write-up made humorous reading. As a child, I had a different experience. I was too thin! PPl used to ask,"Kya thumhari mummy thumhe khane ko nahi dheti hai?"I had nicknames too for being skinny. Though at the time I used to feel self conscious, now I just laugh it off.The same people who see me now have this to ask, "are you the Malathi we saw in your younger days!" Both ways we have to hear unpleasant comments! And life goes on whether we are thin or obese. As long as we are healthy it doesn't matter.

hey Manjula!
Your article made great reading! Like someone mentioned, you sure know how to laugh at yourself, and that is what makes life a lot easier to live. (I wish I had that quality to a greater degree.)


Also enjoyed reading all your replies to each reply.

I'm physically 'normal' by Indian standards, so no such issues, but have a step-daughter who is at the shooting up stage and is actually doing so, and is very much proud of it. She is not one to have any hang-ups about it, the way things are nowadays!

keep posting such enlightening n entertaining articles..
hasita

Dear Manju,

a very nice, light humored post.
one more "Big issue" of being tall is the ever worried relatives. why??? cause now they need to hunt a guy taller than the tall you.
I'm tall tooo but I try out all kinda footwear including heels. Though hubby is taller, when I wear heels I might over shoot him by few minute inches and my Sweet Hubby doesn't really bother. I sometimes wonder about the hollywood pairs - tom cruise & nicole kidman for instance. they stand diff heights & doesn't seem it bothers anyone there.

Hi Manju,

Great write up and funny too.

Laughing at ourselves helps us to see the funny side of life and I follow it very much being from the rounder zone (read plump) of life.

in this context, I would like to attach a very good/quote photo sent to me by my friend

Dear Kamla
Athi Vrishti Anaa vrishti , as they say.
It was enlightening and entertaining to read about your "little'woes. Here I was, thinking only I had problems when the scene at the other end of the spectrum doesnt quite seem to be all that exhilarating either !
And poor you getting the bonus raw deal of having to pitch tent at a place like Germany ! Thankfully, I wasnt fated to set up home in Japan - forget about finding fiiting footwear, I wouldnt have found a fitting loo !
Keeping company with Jack's Beanstalk was mirthless, no doubt, But most certainly, I wouldnt have wanted your teenage existential crisis of waking up one fine day and discovering that your quota is over- Thus far and no further ! ( I hear sorrowful violins )
(Too bad you were deprived of your rightful share of wolf whistles. I thought the arumbu-meesai kurumbu paarvai R.Romeoes were a highly democratic , impartial lot !)

Well, the long and short of it is that it takes all sorts to make up this beautiful world !

manjula

Dear Malathy
Comments cost nothing so they are merrily thrown around whether you are thin or fat or tall or short or....as the song goes: Kuch to log kahenge, logon ka kaam hai kehna.
The comment you recieved reminds me of a lady I know who keeps stuffing her child all sorts of rich food, but the child remains stubbornly thin ! And the lady keeps fretting: "Chee, what will people think, your pappa doesnt earn enough or what !" Fat kids are an accepted symbol of prosperity here, though Doctors keep broadcasting that fitness and good health are more important than size !

manjula