“Back in school, I remember this one day when I was sitting in class, minding my own business. Suddenly, I had a guy walk up to me and start calling names, color-shaming me in the process. And that was just the beginning. Slowly others too joined in and started referring to me as a ‘black buffalo’, ‘ fake bitch’, and various other adjectives. Now as much as I wanted to stand up for myself I realized it wasn’t that easy!Having grown up in a family that never judged the way I looked, all this was completely new. High school specifically was when things went downhill. I had my friends body shame me as well. They wouldn’t stop muttering “arey thu motti hai” that I began to think how big a mistake it was to be dark. I found myself different amongst a pack of seemingly normal friends and regretted that I couldn’t fit in.There was a time when I was vulnerable and could not imagine trusting anybody. It just did not stop with body shaming but it escalated to even talking about my mother. That’s when I decided to leave school after my 10th standard but little did I know that the same bunch would end up in my college too! From someone who has always loved going to school or college, meeting my friends, I started dreading these experiences! During my intermediate, whenever we were given a ten minute break after class, I would step out only to be at the receiving end of names like ‘fatty, ‘slut’ and a lot more.Almost every teenager goes through some sort of a similar experience but, why? Why does one have to go through something as gut-wrenching as this? Honestly, I still don’t know what provoked them to say the things they did but it did make me cry to sleep everyday for two long years!Nevertheless, my parents have always been my pillar of strength through all this. Since I am the youngest and most pampered in the family, I never wanted to let them know what I was going through. I knew it would break their hearts!So I kept them in the dark for really long. Upon opening up, I also remember being asked if I wanted to go for therapy and talk to someone else. But I wasn’t ready. I was scared, my trust issues were holding me back and I started imagining the worst of the situations. There was a point when I even had suicidal thoughts. I wanted to end everything at once. But all I could think of was my family. I can’t even imagine what they’d have to go through incase I’d taken that step.Now what pushed me to speak up was seeing someone else fighting similar battles as well. This was during my first semester in college. There was this group of friends, attacking a girl with adjectives that sounded so familiar to my ears. This was when I decided to speak up and let people know that they are no one to bully or call out others with inappropriate names. However what surprises me the most is seeing regressive people can be in a seemingly progressive society. Just because someone’s physical appearance doesn’t fit their stereotypical mindsets, it doesn’t make one ugly or give one the right to tag you “ugly”. Well instances like these helped me prove them wrong. I’ve finally made peace with what I am and accepted myself by fighting my insecurities out.”