Those hoots of derision

Call us creations of God or His sense of humour. Each of us is unique in our own way with certain good features and some not-so-perfect ones. Some of us are tall, some short, some fair, some dark. While some of us have big eyes, some have a sharp nose.

However, when one such physical attribute of ours becomes really prominent, we tend to become the butt of all jokes. Metrolife speaks to a few Bangaloreans to find out how they deal with jokes on themselves, especially when they are made fun of for their physical attributes.

Aditya Agarwal, an investor, is six feet seven inches tall and always stands out wherever he goes thanks to his height. “When I was in college, people would call me Eiffel Tower, Qutub Minar, Chote, Fat Boy Slim or Big Show,” he recalls. Of course, people still poke fun at him. However, Aditya enjoys it. “I like making fun of people and enjoy it when they joke about me too. What’s there to be serious about it? One can be chilled out and just laugh it off. Being tall is an asset so why not flaunt it,” he asks.

On the contrary, Amit Kumar, a student, is made fun of for being short. “I’m just five feet three inches and really skinny. So when I am made fun of in front of outsiders, especially girls, I get irritated. However, in front of friends, I am fine. There have been times when I have even approached a person or two and asked them why they are making fun of me,” he exclaims.

Anasuya Jayakaran, a homemaker, enjoyed many laughs when she was made fun of in school. “Those days, I was just about four feet ten inches. All my friends and cousins used to call me peechakkai (Kannada word for fruits that don’t grow to their required size), kul battani (peas in Tamil) and even anugundu, an atom bomb ,” she laughs. “I used to laugh it off then and don’t mind it at all even now. In fact I am a grandmother now and one of my cousins still calls me ‘anugundu’,” she adds. “Later, when I became fat, I used to be called fatty and shorty and all sorts of other names. But I know that all these names were only out of affection. Nowadays, people take great offence when they are made fun of,” she notes.