Biography of a fat girl

Carol, seventeen years old, five feet five inches tall, eighty two kilograms, grossly overweight and depressed- that’s how Carol’s life was. If she went out, everyone would stare at her and whisper rude comments. If she went to school, kids would make fun of her and keep giggling while she tried hard to concentrate on her lessons.

But Carol’s had got used to this by now. She had been fat ever since she was born. Her parents were delighted to see their chubby, cute child in the hospital but not as delighted when she was still chubby at fifteen. A growth of skinny actresses and models had made people all over the world weight conscious. Fat was not considered beautiful anymore- it was ugly and gross. Fat people were not only seen as funny but also as lazy and gluttonous. A new kind of prejudice and discrimination against the fat was beginning to emerge. Models that had even an extra inch of flab were rejected thoughtlessly leading to further promotion of a thin figure. While some celebrities promoted a more voluminous figure; they were too thin themselves to be a source of strength and inspiration for fat women. That further reinforced the fact that only skinny people could be celebrities and fat people were better off eating potato chips on their couch and rotting without fame or jobs. Fat celebrities were secretly made fun of.

Obesity had become an epidemic. People all over the world were fighting obesity as if it were plague. Newspapers published shocking reports of obesity statistics. Apparently, one in five people was obese- it was much more widespread than plague. To counter this disease, millions of gyms, slimming centers etc. opened up all over the world. A myriad of weight loss products were aggressively marketed showing fat women getting thin in no time.

Fat people deserved to be treated medically- they were put on unrealistically strict diets with lots of exercise to fill in free time. Obese does not mean the same as naturally fat. Fatness is just in some people’s genes. But with the new trends spreading, such notions seemed to disappear. The new advertisements and changing trends had taken their toll on her. Almost all the girls wanted to become models. They were thinner and looked good in whatever they wore. Carol could not help but notice how much more popular and beautiful her friends were because they were thinner. They looked down upon her like she was a pet dog, not even a human. She was loyal with a great heart but beauty…..no. Have you seen her flab?

So, Carol started doing what all famous people did- diet and exercise believing that this would help her out of this misery. Carol followed a strictly no car, no protein, no calorie, no food diet- she lived on water and a few juices. She enrolled at the gym after school and began skipping in school. She began skipping dinner and lunch. She surfed all kinds of weight loss websites and bought a dozen of miracle slimming teas, pills, creams etc.

After almost three months of doing all of the above, Carol had managed to lose five or six kilograms with great difficulty. All the women around her suddenly appeared thinner and more confident. It further depressed her so she stopped eating altogether. Her parents became concerned about their daughter’s health. She refused even a biscuit because it had too many calories.
Autumn passed. Carol’s body had eaten all her fat for strength. Her eyes burrowed into their sockets but rest of her body though thinner than before, was still fat.

The final blow came when she went out to the park one day.
“Mummy, can people be so fat?” A naïve kid asked his mother pointing to Carol. “Look at that girl, she’s so fat and ugly.”
“Shhhhhh” The kid’s mother said. She apologized to Carol for her son’s rude comments and went away. But the pain wouldn’t go away. The realization that she was ugly after trying so hard didn’t go away.

The next week, her parents were summoned by the principal top discuss Carol’s abnormal behavior. She had completely stopped eating and interacting with the other kids. She had gone into depression after a few spells of emotional overeating. She would get depressed, then eat, then get depressed again- the vicious cycle went on and on. So she decided to stop eating for good. No matter how hard the others tried to feed her, she wouldn’t eat. She had begun slashing her wrists on impulse in the chemistry lab. Incidents like these happened quite often. She had been spotted twice on the school’s terrace trying to commit suicide.

Her parents tried to calm her down but never succeeded. She was too deep into this abyss of depression.
Finally, one Monday morning, she was found dead in the school garden. The police compiled reports and finally buried her. Her teary parents attended the funeral.

Cause of death: Starvation.
Final wish: To be born thin next time.
Carol
Rest in Peace