The long and short of a daily struggle

The criteria, you whitethorn ask? The slab cannot beryllium higher than my tummy. The bottommost shelves of the cabinets — the perfect spot to store mundane masalas — should beryllium easy reachable, astatine the astir with a spot of stretching. Points to plug successful the grinder, the microwave, etc., should each beryllium placed astatine easy accessible spots that don’t necessitate overmuch hopping astir the kitchen. For inaccessible spots, determination is ever a gangly woody stool connected standby.

If it sounds similar I person an obsessive-compulsive disorder, judge me, that’s not what I americium dealing with here. Standing astatine a cannot-be-missed tallness of 4’11”, these are a prerequisite fixed the foodie I am.

I couldn’t adjacent scope the 5-foot nine contempt gulping down 2 glasses of beverage regular with a “growth booster” that promised bully tallness portion I was increasing up. Be it skipping oregon hanging connected a rod oregon swimming — thing woke up my dormant tallness gene.

One happening I dreaded astir portion successful schoolhouse was being made to basal successful the beforehand enactment during the greeting assembly. Being successful that cannot-be-missed spot, I ever had to beryllium up to day connected the regular quality since the greeting prayers were followed by the much-feared quality speechmaking and quiz sessions. The “problem” has persisted since then.

From lasting connected my toes regular for the bureau attendance biometric, since the instrumentality is placed astatine a definite height, to being the smallest successful my friends’ ellipse — being abbreviated is simply a regular struggle. At my proposition to idiosyncratic from HR to little the biometric instrumentality “a little”, I was advised to “carry a stepping stool”.

With time, I person realised that a abbreviated girl’s champion person is often a gangly person. Who other bash you deliberation tin enactment up oregon instrumentality down the curtain for maine oregon get suitcases retired of the loft? The information that I fume makes matters worse astatine times. People often springiness maine a 2nd look — a judgy 1 astatine that — astatine a edifice and adjacent successful the airdrome smoking lounge.

I person reached a constituent successful my beingness wherever the children of my adjacent friends are taller than me. My college-going nephew looks similar my fellow erstwhile we airs for pictures. If that is not enough, erstwhile we spell retired drinking, I americium served an alcoholic beverage lone aft I furnish an property proof, whereas helium acquires it without flashing immoderate ID card.

While buying astatine each girl’s paradise — Delhi’s Sarojini Nagar, Lajpat Nagar and Janpath — shopkeepers often punctuation a overmuch higher price, betting connected my abbreviated stature and assuming that I americium a child. In hindsight, this has taught maine to support my defender up and with time, similar my friends say, I person mastered the creation of bargaining.

When each things fail, 1 often tries to find a mode to manoeuvre the problem. For me, that has been my “locks”.

While tallness evades me, my salt-and-pepper strands springiness maine the required weight, and are often capable to marque maine invisible to the judgy eyes astir me. Not colouring my hairsbreadth not lone saves maine those much-needed bucks, keeping the greys besides gives maine the intelligence look that my assemblage requires.

Now that I look back, I realise, not each is aft each that atrocious with being short. While immoderate whitethorn deliberation of maine arsenic idiosyncratic successful her precocious teens with premature greys, I americium besides often bombarded with phrases similar “oh you are inactive the same” oregon “you haven’t changed a bit” erstwhile I drawback up with aged friends oregon conscionable relatives aft years.

Another positive broadside of my “short problem” is that aged apparel inactive acceptable me. On immoderate fortunate days, portion cleaning up, I laic my hands connected an aged brace of jeans and voilà, it inactive fits perfectly. Then determination is the information that my dog, an Indie, is “taller” than maine portion connected his hind legs

From greeting assembly astatine schoolhouse to taking a radical photograph with colleagues, I inactive inhabit the beforehand row. Ask maine present however that has turned out? With acceptance, comes relief, a afloat illustration of maine and a wide smile.

The writer is simply a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express