Rise of the General

Submitted by PG

I am an Indian author & activist. From advocating about various issues including human trafficking & menstrual hygiene to starting my own plastic pickup movement, I am a business administration undergraduate from Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh. My first article was published in newspaper when I was 15 years old. Later, with that confidence, I went ahead and authored a book 5 years later in 2019. However, behind this seemingly flamboyant journey, there infact has been a deathly painful ride full of thorns. My story is a story of incredible courage, resilience and patience. Once I was out of 10th grade in 2015, I was suddenly besieged by a myriad of problems & health issues. I was well over 5'10(5'11 to be precise) & rather suddenly my weight dropped to around 50kgs. At the same time I fell into severe depression which would take me 3 years to get out of; and what was worse I had a syndrome the name of which I prefer to keep confidential for now, in which you have severe muscle imbalance. Finding myself in this state of horror and despair, I tried with all my spirit to still remain optimistic & rather than seeing this crisis as a complete deluge, I saw it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become a superhero & embraced it with all my heart. The reason you wouldn't hear the likes of my story & willpower is because since the day I became ill, I started adopting superhuman habits & I haven't eaten a single piece of fast food now in the past 5 years since then. All my relatives are testimony to that & that's why I call myself a superhero. The whole recovery took time and I am super healthy once again. Since I have come victorious out of this deluge, my family & close friends have called me 'the General' since then. It really is one of the best feelings in the world when the people around you know you as a winner. They know me as a brave person and they believe that I can endure any obstacle & come out of it victorious. Though the syndrome still remains a hurdle, I have sworn to overcome it & restore the symmetry of my body to normalcy. I look forward to the prescribed surgery for the medical condition next year.