I was born and brought up in a very small town in Kerala. I was a big girl from a very young age (only by body size), and my breasts were bigger compared to other girls of my age during my teenage years. When I was 10 years old, I started wearing a sports bra. One day, a teacher called my mother and spoke to her in private about buying me an actual bra. She said teachers were talking about my breasts in the staff room. My mother took me out for lunch and took me bra shopping. My 11-year-old self was utterly humiliated wondering why teachers were talking about my breasts at school.
I was one of the first to wear jeans and Kurti (a typical attire these days in my place). One day a lady who runs a shop on the street came and told my father that all the autorickshaw drivers who park their vehicles at the opposite end of the street were getting tempted with my breasts and so he had to make his daughter cover up her breasts with a shawl.
I still wonder what was her actual problem. It’s true I’ve got stares and some weird comments from the group, but I always closed off my ears. Anyway, after the lady’s recommendation, my self-confidence went down a notch and my mother too recommended it was better to wear a shawl than create trouble.
