The battle of bulge ~ An ode to Bibbo Jaan

If you have not watched the series “Heera Mandi” the reference in this post may not make sense to you, but broadly you might understand what I am talking about.
 
For decades, women, particularly women of my generation, have been dealing with low body image. We were fed on and grew up on the ideal standard of beauty and fitness that was embodied and personified by glamour models of our time.

That was the ideal that every girl and woman hoped and dreamed of achieving. Of course, a minuscule fraction did, so most of us grew up and lived with a negative body image.
 
Back fat rolls or “tyre” as they are more popularly known, were the dreaded outcome of age and maturity. It has been a personal battle for me. I try to stay fit by working out regularly, but these just do not go away.
 
For all my life till Bibbo Jaan, I dreaded them. I did everything I could to cover them up. When I wore sarees, it was my biggest dread to have them sneak out from even the longest blouse I wore.

I remember going to a blouse tailor and being told point blank “15 inch pe tyre hai”. That “15 inch pe tyre” was the biggest bane of my saree wearing existence till I met Bibbo Jaan.
 
Bibbo Jaan’s famous walk in Heera Mandi changed all that for me. To see Aditi Rao Hydari flaunting her “tyres” was a light bulb moment. Everything that I had read about accepting your body and body positivity, came alive in that moment.
 
The Battle of the Bulge that I had been fighting for the last two decades did not need to be won anymore. It had lost its significance.

There is an old saying, “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder”. I think it is high time we changed that to “Beauty lies in your own eyes”.
 
It is time to accept that each one of us and each one of our bodies is beautiful and unique.

And along with Durga Pooja, it is time to celebrate ourselves!