For centuries, society has been owning the right to decide and box the idea of beauty. Rosy lips, dimple chin, curly hair, very fairy fair! What appeals to one’s eye is predecided and conditioned upon all social beings.
But no matter what media and magazines said, size wasn’t something that bothered young Tanvi, who had always been the bigger girl.
As a person who had this unbeatable penchant for performing be it dancing or participating in fancy dress competitions, Tanvi knew the world of glamour was waiting to see her talent.
“I never really focussed on my body. For me, my talent and my personality was always the most important thing”
Turns out, having the right abilities and passion was not the only criteria to do what you love. The super talented dancer was one of the best in her groups, but when she decided o take up dancing professionally, things did not turn out the way she expected.
“I remember my mentor telling me that, Tanvi, you have 99 out of the 100 things a dancer needs but the one thing you don’t have is the body of a dancer”.
When her academy wanted her to fit into their archaic stereotype, she lost 40Kgs by practically starving herself and working out 12 hours a day.
But the academy strongly opposed having Tanvi with them solely because of her body type. Imagine having living each day, fighting against all odds to come closer to your dreams, and one fine day someone comes and tell you that you aren’t worth it.
Even though Tanvi’s confidence and her abilities always caught people off-guard, her size made them uncomfortable. Despite winning the title for Miss Fresher in college, she wasn’t given the opportunity to walk at the fashion show.
“Imagine people with half the amount of passion and abilities move forward and be promoted past you”.
The unfortunate experiences left her is a state of anger and turmoil. But it wasn’t long before Tanvi realised that only thing that was out of proportion was the world’s obsession with specific body types.
She loved herself and her work, and nothing could keep this supremely talented star from showing off what she had.
The highest point of her life was when Lakme Fashion Week, invited her for auditioning at their plus-size event. Walking on the ramp representing an entire community that has been constantly told that no one wanted to see them, was an empowering experience, It inspired her to start advocating her ideas and speak about it on bigger platforms.
And thus began the journey of popularly love @chubbytwirller. Since then, Tanvi made sure she never looked back.
What Tanvi she learnt from this journey was to be thick-skinned, and brush off all the negativity people throw at you.
”When people call me an elephant or a bear I say, I think these creatures are beautiful and thank you for comparing me to them” she says with a big smile.
No matter what people in the industry say, Tanvi’s story confirms that size is just a number, and you are never too big to bloom!
