Skin Deep Perception: The Odd One Stigma

Whenever an individual talks about his childhood, there always lies a part when he went through personal inadequacy which he did not even realise. Being part of a civilization doesn't give you the same standing just because you are part of it. As an individual facing constant deliberation based on the condition of my skin, I can affirm my aforementioned statement. Vitiligo is a long-term condition where pale white patches develop on the skin. It's caused by the lack of melanin, which is the pigment in skin. It is mostly a hereditary condition which is carried out by direct or indirect successors in the family tree. The disease doesn’t pose any health threats or any severe complications. 

I got the first patches of my vitiligo on my chin when I was 7 years old. I was too young to figure out what exactly it is and what impacts it is going to force on my body and mind. My mother convinced me that it is a hereditary condition which my father also had and he got cured and consoled me that I will get done with it soon. Being juvenile I made myself believe that and started to live with it. Unfortunately, I was not prepared for the question society is going to raise for my different skin colour patches. It started with school when my classmates started making fun of it. During childhood most of us live on the edge of vulnerability and minute things affect us on a larger scale. All this started triggering the inferior person inside me. While I was growing the white patches started coming up incessantly on my legs, elbows and my fingers. I became dubious about my outfits and started avoiding shorts and boxers as it would reveal the patches on my legs. Social and especially family gatherings became personal hell since my skin colour was a hot topic to discuss. My relatives made me detest my skin condition and often made me realise how ugly my body will look when I grow up with the white patches. Few people even insisted that if I don’t do anything about it now then it will cause great difficulty for me when I plan to get married in the future. Indirectly, I was imposed with the thoughts of how a person’s visage is important for a better future. Basically, my life was preordained by society, not by considering my skills or personality but my skin colour. I started despising myself whenever I looked at myself in the mirror. I simply acquiesced to everything that was told to me regarding my skin condition. Looking at other people of my age created a yearning for the normal skin tone. 

With our generation growing out of insecurities and stereotypes, it took me my entire childhood to accept myself as I am. Eventually, I came to know Vitiligo is an incurable disease, but my inferiority and extreme consciousness for it was definitely curable. I realised that I as a person is solely responsible for my position in the society. It took me time to garner the self confidence that was somewhere lost due to the deeply rooted society notions. An individual should be known for their deeds and not for their anatomy or the tone of that anatomy. The repercussions faced by an individual in the early days leaves a cognitive impact on their brain. Those who have the zest to reach a milestone strive against these difficulties and come up with great results. 

While many suffer with their insecurities and murky society norms and move ahead on the meandering roads of life. We should be the one deciding what will be best for us and work accordingly on our skills and personality and come up with the best of us.

- Anshuman Arya