A day in the life of a skinny guy

Shafi thinks it's high time the world talked about the struggles that came saran wrapped with a skinny body. But to his sadness, everyone only talks about how they have gained so much weight and how the fat is hell bent in staying settled in the abdomen.

8:00 AM

Shafi rises from the deep well of an "oh-so-comfortable" sleep only to recall that he has to rush to school within 20 minutes or so. Hurriedly stuffing his mouth with slices of an apple, he makes his way to the elevator.  The aunty next door happens to stumble across him while getting into the elevator. He flashes a well-mannered grin at her. One of her hands slowly caresses his cheeks with a mournful look on her face, and she blurts out, "Ahare baba ma bashay khabar dey na?"

The machine gun words plummet him down to the ground, but he manages to pull himself up and say, "Ami to onek khai kintu mota hoi na" 

11:00 AM

It's recess. Along with his friends, Shafi ventures out on the struggle to overcome the cobra line snaking from the tiny school canteen. His math teacher happens to catch a glimpse of him, and he points at Shafi's baggy shirt, and keeps on saying something which Shafi turns a deaf ear to. What else could he be saying other than the fact that his bony body is swimming in his clothes?

1:00 PM

To his delight, school is over for the day. He is now settled in a cozy spot at the most famous burger place in his town with his friends. Slowly relishing the mouth-watering majesty of the double patty giant, he wonders whether two more of this could help him gain weight. But it dawns on him that his stomach isn't made to overdose on burgers unlike his friends who can devour two more. He asks his friends for some serious tips on gaining weight. As usual, followed by a series of laughter, they advise him to stay idle all day. His friends have been giving this advice to him for as long as he can remember. So he realises that resorting to his friends' advice is the worst for success.

3:00 PM

Mum brings a T-shirt with an eye-catching shade of cerulean blue that he cannot turn down. Overwhelmed with excitement, he tries it out only to find it floating like a balloon around him, the half sleeves dangling from his arms, the neckline splayed like a garland, and the arm-hole as big as a bat cave. Seeing him sad with the bagginess of it, she assures him that he can use it two years later, and so has to take care of it until then. He laughs at the mediocrity of this event.

10:00 PM

Having done with the sumptuous dinner his father bought on the way home, he readies himself for the bed. Nestled comfortably, he lowers the brightness of his phone and googles the advantages of being skinny. Being agile, having fewer heart problems, dodging premature death, walking effortlessly, breathing easily are some of the benefits he finds. Being satisfied with his condition, he surfs Facebook for a meme or two as usual before sleeping. He stumbles across one that shows one should eat as much as possible because fat people are hard to abduct. Darkness falls over him. The screen light turns dim. So does the contented light of his face. He turns the phone off, pulls the blanket over, and goes to sleep — praying one day being skinny will draw loads of attention.