Remember that scene in Mean Girls where all the girls were standing in front of the mirror talking about their imperfections that they would like to change? While it was a little exaggerated there’s definitely more to it than meets the eye. Test this out, the next time you hang out with your friends just ask them if they dislike something about themselves. I am guessing most of those answers would be related to their physical attributes.
All of us at some point or the other have hated something about our looks. I for one have had a long list of things I dislike starting from my nose to my height to my super large feet. Apart from this long list, there is one that I was extremely insecure about. I have an upper canine which is a supernumerary tooth, it is basically an extra tooth that is above my usual tooth line on my upper gum area. When it developed and until fairly recently I was always a little weird about giving a full smile. Somewhere that canine took my smile away. But then I realised that just like my other “imperfections”, this was just something that I had thought up in my head. Of course, it helped that the people around me kept talking about how amazing my smile is, but the real love for my extra tooth came from within me. When I decided that an extra tooth was just an extra reason to smile.
So, I decided, instead of sounding preachy, I sat around our table one day and asked some of the gorgeous women I work with if they considered something as an imperfection and how they learnt to love them.
1. There’s more to me than the shape of my body.
I was fit as a child but when I hit puberty, my periods that lasted an astonishing seven months. Not a day was spent without seeing blood. It disturbed my hormones and led my body to retain and gain a lot of weight. Soon people around me, including my relatives began to compare me to people who were unhealthy because of eating a lot of junk food. People randomly started to assume that I look large because I eat outside and someone who loves to eat unhealthy food would instantly compare me to themselves or other people. It hurt me, it broke me several times. It got into my head and I lost control over everything because the truth was, forget unhealthy, I didn’t eat outside food at all.
My younger sister one day jumped in and said, “you were always beautiful, people just played with your head without realising.” One of the days when I moved away from people around me, I browsed through my old pictures, and I realised, she was right. More than my body, I started seeing my accomplishments, my smile. That very moment I fell in love with myself all over again. It happens to a lot of people and as a kid, you can’t do any better than what you did at the moment. People, especially, elders must stop judging without knowing the full story. After all, kids listen to elders, they depend on them and their opinion.
– Chhavi Porwal, Senior Trending Writer
2. I embraced my curly hair.
Get up and straighten up. That’s was my life, I’m sorry, my hair routine twice a week until a few months ago. I just hated my hair. No, they weren’t unruly or unmanageable but I just hated how my hair was ‘not normal’ like all my friends. One fine day, my hair straightener broke and I had to go to work with my natural hair. I was really conscious but thanks to the compliments, I got the confidence to embrace the natural texture of my hair. Trust me, when someone tells you that they pay thousands of bucks to get done what you have naturally, it makes you feel really good about yourself.
– Sayunkta Jain, Senior Fashion Writer
3. I love the colour of my skin!
I have dusky skin. Everyone used to give me “gharelu nuskhe” (home remedies) to get fair skin, especially my relatives. Even in school, other students used to make fun of me. After a while, those things stopped bothering me. Now I think “this colour” suits me. If I were fair then maybe I wouldn’t look as beautiful as I am now. I learned to love my skin just by accepting what I have.
– Akanksha, IT executive
4. My birthmark is now a mark of beauty!
I have a very prominent birthmark next to my left eye. As I was growing up, everybody would tell me constantly that I had something on my face and I had to explain that it was a birthmark that I couldn’t do anything about. One day, I was very upset and my dadi sat me down and told me that this mark is what made me special and unique. There has been no turning back and I’ve loved my mark so fiercely since that day. It is a part of me and I wouldn’t change it for anything.
– Srishti Gupta, Junior Lifestyle Editor
5. I’ve made peace with my long chin.
Everyone used to tell me that I had a Jay Leno chin—even my besties would make fun of me in school. You know how mean kids can be. Of course, I never let on that I was affected by the name calling but my adolescent heart would silently cry. But as I’ve grown older and grown into my face, I’ve made peace with it. It’s the only face I’ll ever have and we’re in it for the long haul.
– Samira Badhwar, Senior Scriptwriter Comedy
6. I’m more than happy with my bust size. NOW.
When I was growing up, I was really tall and thin and never had much of a bust. I could see a lot of my school friends graduating from sports bras to brassieres. Around high school, I think it’d really got to me and I could even question the way I looked. A year passed, and my perspective changed. I realised that this was no imperfection, it’s just the way my body is. To this day, there’s no looking back. I love my bust size and I’m super confident about it (and the rest of my body too). Sure, there’s a lot of work to be done (and finally get fit) but I wouldn’t change a thing.
-Manavi Siddhanti, Beauty Editor
7. I’m no longer conscious about my dark circles.
I’ve had dark circles since the day I was born. Right from the very first picture of me as a child I’ve been rocking the panda eyes. While this was something that didn’t affect me at all as a child, it became a major insecurity when I was older. I was sick of being asked if I’m too tired or if I’m unwell. I never felt comfortable leaving the house without concealer. I did everything in my power to get rid of the dark circles. I spent half my pocket money and most of my time in college hoarding on concealers and anti-dark circle creams and researching DIY’s. It’s safe to say that I’ve probably tried anything that said it would address dark circles. After all these years, I can finally tell you that I’ve learnt to live with the panda eyes and I’ve learnt ways how NOT to let them take centre stage on no makeup days too. I think at the end of the day, what’s most important is that you learn to live with yourself and love yourself for everything that defines you!
– Nidhi Kavle, Senior Beauty Writer
Here’s the thing friends, I am NOT saying, change your thought process right now. But, the next time you look in the mirror and look at your imperfections, instead of seeing them as a drawback, see them as a part of you. Also, it never hurts to surround yourself with positive people who appreciate you. Think about it!
