My small world

I am a 4ft. 10in. package living in a world where even Valentines day teddybears are bigger than me. I haven’t grown up much since the time I was in school where I found it fairly easy to hide behind my friends whenever my homework was skipped. During college, none of those tall, young, handsome guys asked me out for a date ever- since they perceived me as someone’s younger sibling on the campus. 🙁

I got married to someone who is almost the same height as me and instead of congratulating us, people said- Aww! such a small and cute couple…. and I was like: small and cute??! This is our maximum size. A few years thereafter, we got a baby girl, and one of these aunties came over to our house to tell me-  Your daughter is as small as you. I was like- What sarcasm! This aunty is barely 5ft.- that too after wearing a 6 inches of heel and finding an excuse to needlessly remind me about my height!

My daughter is now growing up and frequently measures up her shoulder against mine. In my heart I always tell her- My child! your reference point is completely wrong. It’s not a big deal to grow as big as me.

While coming to the professional world, I would like to introduce you to one of my colleagues…. whom I fondly called Minibar. 

Of all the things in this world, our relationship has given us trrrremendous neck pain coming in from the need of trying to look at each other. Our lives vary greatly in the following ways:

1. While he is so tall that google earth had put a camera on his head to capture complete view of the world, I am still in the process of accepting my biological need of having to sit on a pillow while driving.
2. While he has become a top-shelf assistant, items placed that high in the supermarket no longer feature in my shopping list.
3. While he struggles to get that one extra inch in his ready-made pants, I am still busy convincing people- no! i am not buying my clothes from kids section.
4. While he is just 20 yr. old and still growing, my mother is still busy suggesting me home remedies to increase height. 
5. While he enters as a duck in the airplane, I have to jump and climb to reach the cabinets above me.
6. While his biggest fear is ceiling fan, I fall in the direct line of people’s farts.
7. While he does’t fit even in a king size bed, I don’t feel qualified enough to talk about leg space problems in aircrafts.
8. While he can stand in a group of people and be heard, I have to yell at the helm of voice because my head is at their chest unless I am standing with kids.

When you are my size, weight is also an issue. Even if I gain 50 gms, it’s like a huge baggage pasted on my belly. But I am definitely one of those women who can call myself fat but will scare the hell out of anyone else who does the same. The other day at supermarket- I climbed just a little step over the refrigerator to fetch cheese & the store manager comes up to say- this thing isn’t meant for weight! Weight- are you calling me fat?

But it’s not that bad after all, I admit to have used my height as an advantage to get in some free rides at adventure parks and getting the most prominent position in group photos and several other occasions. Weather good or bad, my life has been full of instances where I was repeatedly reminded of being short. William Shakespeare once quoted: “Though she be little, she is fierce” – and that’s what I am proud of being. 😀

This award-winning content was originally presented in Toastmasters International Club as a speech, a recording of which can be found here.

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