More than 5 years now and almost close to 800 posts, its been a long time. Now close to 800 posts, I try to continue with the tradition of inviting guest writers for charity. The response hasn’t been as expected but still some of them did respond.
Presenting a break from my travel blogs and something different
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Swetha write a story about being fat.
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I was the center of attention everywhere I went, be it at the malls, the grocery stores or even at a park. People just could not ignore my presence, they had to see me. They would turn around or look at me from the corner of their eyes even if was standing next to a stunning blond. Some looked at me disapprovingly and the others looked at me with pity. I was tired of all the attention I was getting and decided to do something about my weight. I came up with a diet and an exercise plan, ordered health magazines which always had size zero women gracing the front covers hoping to be inspired by them.
I weighed 350 pounds and was targeting to lose 100 pounds in the next six months. I knew this was hard to do but I stood to just lose my pounds. I decided I would jog in the nights just to avoid people staring at me. Yes night seemed liked the right idea. Most of the people in the neighborhood were early joggers and pretty much in shape. I couldn’t see myself jogging with them. In the darkness of the night my pounds would go unnoticed. Nobody would stare at me or comment on me. I decided to jog for a minimum of an hour every night from 9pm to 10pm at the neighborhood park which had a nice jogging track. I armed myself with an ipod, cell phone and a pack of water bottles and ventured out to accomplish my mission.
I was always alone in my mission but it all changed one day. I had a company. He accompanied me when I was in the 2nd round.
“Didn’t think anybody would be out at this hour” he said.
“Me neither” I replied.
“You must feel pretty lonely being here all by yourself” he said.
“Well, I am not complaining. It’s nice to be alone once during the day”.
“Not at night though” he said with sarcasm.
“Well you too are alone at night, I don’t see anybody accompanying you either” I retorted.
I stopped to drink some water under the lamp post. It was then I saw his face clearly. He seemed like a European with long pointed nose, thin lips and muscular jaw. He was wearing a white color Joggers suit. He must have been in his 40’s I guessed.
“So you trying to reduce your weight” he asked me.
“What does it look like to you” I said irritatingly.
“You must reduce your weight. It’s not good for your health. May lead to heart diseases and other ailments” he said sounding concerned.
“You are not a doctor so stop advising me” I was losing my temper.
“Calm down. I am a doctor by profession and I am an obesity specialist”. I was so taken aback.
“I understand what you are going through. It’s common for people in your situation to react this way. My sister too was obese, helpless and embarrassed”.
I just kept looking down at the grass.
“I have been working on a medicine which will help to reduce 10 pounds in a week”.
I looked up at him and just repeated “10 pounds in a week!”
“Yup, you heard me right”.
“And what do I have to for that?” I asked not able to contain my happiness.
“Not much, you have to take a couple of injections that will help to break down the fat in your body with the help of lipases”
I listened to him keenly as he continued “lipases are enzyme that break down the fat into fatty acid and glycerol. By doing this your fat cells don’t disappear but become smaller in size and eventually help you to lose weight”. He went on for another 15 minutes explaining how the drug will work in combination with lipases to reduce weight and kept looking at me to see if I understood him. I could not understand the terms but he had convinced me that this injection is the only way I can lose weight quickly.
“You’ll have to eat less, exercise more and have these injections take three times a day”.
“Have you ever tried this on anybody else?” I asked.
“Nope you are the first one” he replied raising his eyebrows wondering if I would accept his offer.
“What if the injection doesn’t work?”
“Then you go on to jog here at nights for a really really long time hating all the who people stare at you”. There was a long silence between us. It was getting cold at the park, I put on my jacket which I had removed while jogging and asked him
“What if it works?”
“Now you are talking business” he said clasping both this hands.
“I will give you 25% of what we earn from the sales of this drug”. I rubbed my lips with my thumb and said
“5o per…”
‘It’s a deal” he said cutting me in between. He started to jog and said “See you tomorrow at the same time then”.
I was really excited the whole day and couldn’t wait for the night. My embarrassment, shame and guilt all started to vanquish. I didn’t bother when people were staring at me at my job, or at the restaurant where I went for lunch. The stares were just passing by me and I felt immune to them. Ten pounds a week, ten pounds a week my heart kept repeating. I was going to be thin like the models on the magazine covers. I had already started dreaming of the clothes that I had wanted to wear all my life but couldn’t. On top of my list was a yellow bikini. The last time I had worn a bikini was when I was 12. I had been to the beach with my parents and had played in the sand and the water. I was having really good time when a group of 15 year old boys started picking up on me. “Hey big fat yellow ducky” one of them had shouted and the others started laughing out loud. I had cried all the way home and never wore a bikini after that. It’s been 18 years since then and I so badly wanted to wear one. A couple of months from now I will be wearing one I thought to myself.
We met at night as we had planned the previous day. The doctor was there sitting on the bench with a small attaché’ case. He sprung on his feet when he saw me walking towards him.
“Hello my dear, sharp on time”, he said looking at his watch.
“Shall we get down to business now”, he said taking out a couple of papers from his briefcase.
“I need you to sign them”.
“What papers are these?” I asked a bit concerned.
“It merely states that in case something happens to you after I administer the drug then I am not responsible for it “he said matter of factly.
“Can something happen to me” I asked.
“We’ll find out after we inject. You are the first one I’ve ever tried it on.” That sentence made me a bit nervous but what the heck I thought if it works I will be slim and rich. I took the pen from him and signed my name. He took out a syringe and a small bottle from his attaché’ discarded the plastic cover around it and pierced the needle into the bottle. Once the syringe had all the liquid in it he tightened his lips, raised his eyebrows, took my arms and injected the entire drug in my body.
“Are you feeling okay” he asked with concern.
“Yeah” I replied weakly.
“The drug starts acting immediately” he said.
“I am feeling a bit weak and drowsy” I said holding my head “and a bit thirsty too”
I was trying to swallow hard.
“Aww those I think are the side effects. My sister too felt the same way after I had injected her”.
“But, you said I was the first one you are trying the drug on”, I asked nervously.
“First one, after my sister. She was obese like you and felt ashamed and embarrassed all the time. Her self confidence was zero, even though she was an A student all her life, was good in music and painting. There was nothing she was not good at. She was beautiful too. But she was what the world calls PHAT. She just could not take the stares of the people. She would be quiet and withdrawn, not talk to anybody. One day she came upto me and started crying. I couldn’t see my baby sisters pain and so I injected her with the drug. She slept like an angel after that and never got up again, never cried again”.
My breathing had slowed down considerably, my extremities had become numb with chillness and my vision was decreasing by the second. My body fell on the ground and I saw myself entering a white tunnel. I noticed something else; I was wearing a yellow bikini.
