Guest post by Sudesna Ghosh author of Just Me, The Sink and The Pot

“If you don’t fit in with your peers, you get depressed” – Sudesna Ghosh, author of Just Me, the Sink and The Pot.

Today we have with us of our blog guest post author Sudesna Ghosh (Sue) a writer based in Kolkata. She was born in the United States and moved to India when she was 9. After completing high school there, she went back to the US for her higher education at the University of Rochester. She has also penned What Would I Tell Her @ 13 and News Now, along with several short stories. When Sudesna isn’t writing, she tries to do her bit for animal welfare.

Her recent release Just Me, The Sink and The Pot is a children and Young adult literature targeting the theme of body shaming in kids.

Your book talks about teenager issue of getting stressed because of physical appearance. How does it affect the overall self-esteem of the child in the near future?

Body shaming and body image issues effect people of all ages. It is one thing to dislike a thing or two about your appearance, and entirely a different thing to be obsessed with disliking your body and its imperfections. These imperfections of course come from society’s definition of beauty.

When a child grows up knowing and being told repeatedly that she is ‘different’ and that she doesn’t meet the standards of beauty, the child can do either of two things – learn to ignore it and maybe even laugh it off, or believe everyone else and develop low self esteem. The latter happens often and coming out of it isn’t easy unless you have a LOT of support. Support from parents, from teachers, from mental health professionals, is necessary to survive in the battle against negative body image.

Children, especially teens, are in a phase of life where fitting in is important. If you don’t fit in with your peers, you get depressed and dislike yourself for being different. The bad news is that there will be bullies who make other kids feel terrible about the way they look. Yet there is good news too; we as a society are speaking up about mental health issues in India. While depression and anxiety can result due to multiple reasons, I believe that even children/teens are getting professional help these days if needed and of course, if the adults in their lives are perceptive enough.

Growing up with body image issues has taught me one thing better late than never: there are overweight girls and women everywhere but everyone has a different level of self confidence. Confidence takes time to build and is easier to have no matter your weight as you grow older and realise what is really important to you and your life. Children are just starting out, learning about the world and trying to make themselves be liked – low self esteem can develop and should not be ignored.

JUST ME, THE SINK & THE POT

Sudesna Ghosh

Blurb

Meet Pamela, an overweight girl who’s looking back at her school days. From longing for a Valentine to dealing with a sibling who hates her, Pamela has a lot to deal with. She even has a special bunch of friends at home who she can turn to – but they aren’t the kind of friends you’d expect. Life sucks when you’re fat. Can Pamela ever be happy?

Read an excerpt of the book here…

One day a classmate asked me, “Where is your lunch?” I told her that I had already had it and went back to my fake laughter and smiles. The others chatted and laughed while they ate from their tiffin boxes. Some brought samosas or ice cream from outside the gate. My hunger pangs got worse as I saw all the food and smelt the delicious odours around me.

The ice cream cart was run by a sweet old man who knew me since I’d started school. He would ask me some days, “Child, you don’t want your favourite orange stick?” I would say no thank you and smile before running away from him and his cart. One day he seemed to be desperate to make me have an ice cream. “Child! Come here and have an ice cream. You don’t have to pay me,” he called out. I smiled, turned around and went to hide in an empty classroom. Two minutes later, I shrieked; the old man had found me. He was carrying a dripping ice cream for me. I started laughing. Then I started running away from him. The old man started running after me!

My classmates were shocked. The sports teacher was happy to see me run for the first time – I had never run before because fat moves when you run. Everybody would laugh. The lunch break ended with me accepting the mostly melted orange stick from the kind ice cream man. We were too tired to talk about the whole event. But it did make me a bit popular that year, with the school Yearbook including the story and a picture of me running away from a 6 feet tall man holding an ice cream.

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