Saumya told TeenBook how she took pills to get taller — just because people kept judging her. But things went wrong, and she learned it’s better to love yourself than try to change for others.

A few days ago, I was on my way home from office, sitting quietly in the metro. That’s when I overheard a girl talking to her friend. She said she wasn’t happy with her skin colour and wanted to try some new products to fix it. And just like that, it hit me – I’d been in that exact same place once. But my issue was different. It was my height.

I’ve always been on the shorter side – just a little over 4 feet. And honestly, it was like the only thing people ever noticed about me. My family used to stress out so much about it. “Shaadi kaise hogi iski?” was the usual background music at home. And just when I thought things couldn’t get worse, I got glasses. Yup, now I was short and wore specs. The name-calling began – “chashmish,” and a bunch of other weird stuff. Some even came from my own family.

The “height problem” obsession

There was this cousin whose daughter was also short. Her family was struggling to find a match for her. So, naturally, they turned to the Internet and ordered some height-increasing medicines. And guess what? My family copied them and handed me the same meds. No doctor, no questions. 

By then, I was already tired of the stares, the jokes, and the “friendly” advice. So I didn’t even think twice. I just started taking those pills, secretly hoping I’d grow taller overnight. For a week straight, I took them without missing a day. But instead of growing taller, my body started reacting to it.

When things went downhill

Sticky liquid started coming out of my breasts, and soon after, I got my first period -way earlier than expected. That was scary. Then came the tiredness, mood swings, loss of appetite. I was cranky all the time. Basically, I was falling apart and had no idea why.

Finally, my mumma took me to a doctor. The moment he heard about the meds, he said, “Stop them. Now.” He told us those medicines were messing with my hormones and could cause long-term damage. 

Lesson learned the hard way

That experience taught me a big lesson: never mess with your body just to fit in or meet some random beauty standard. So what if I’m short? That doesn’t make me any less cool or capable. I don’t need to change to please anyone.

Today, I own my height. I rock my glasses. I love my body, just the way it is. No filters, no fakeness. Just me.

And honestly? That’s more than enough.