Vitiligo: You are beautiful in both the colours

In 2013, I had witnessed a white small mark on my neck. I was worried, as it did seem like something that would not go away with any medication so quickly. I went to see a doctor immediately and I was diagnosed with a skin condition called Vitiligo.

Vitiligo is a skin condition where the part or all of your skin starts losing colour. The body starts rejecting melanocytes and due to lack of or no melanin, the skin loses colour. No one knows the exact cause for this condition but it is a long-term condition and causes are similar to how an autoimmune disease occurs.

There is a lot of stress involved with this condition. Men or women who have this condition lose a lot of confidence. They stop moving out of the house. They are aware of the stares or the queries what other people might have.

What everyone should know and remember is that this is only a cosmetic condition and in this world there are people suffering from far more serious conditions. When other folks cannot see your beauty and judge you by how you look, you should not care anyway.

So initially when I realised that now I have this condition, I went to see a doctor and he had asked me to take some medicine and expose myself to early morning sun. Obviously I was new to it and as it did not work, I went to another naturopathy specialist who gave me another round of his medicines. I have spent a lot of money on equipment and medicine with the hope that I will recover. You will not believe how many specialists I have been to! After those two, I went to homeopathy, Ayurveda too.

Believe me, although they tried their best but there seemed to be a dead end every time something did not work. Eventually I decided not to take any more medication and live happily with it! I have more patches now but thats a part of me and you can see my pictures on my instagram profile

I am blessed with wonderful parents, a beautiful and supporting wife and the best of friends who have helped my emotional quotient throughout my journey.

None of them treated me differently or have asked me to look for a solution. They have looked beyond it. My friends don’t care whether I have vitiligo or not, it is not contagious; it is just a cosmetic change! You now are colorful!

I know sometimes it seems that it is easier said than done, but I have done it and so have many other people. I went to this law of attraction introductory class, and the guy who was taking the class, explained to me in private that this condition is nothing, if you believe that you are perfect, you will be perfect. Just do not think that you have anything wrong and always remember to be grateful to the doctors who have tried to cure you and keep blessing them. Woo!

I mean can you imagine doing that when you are stressed out of your guts trying to look normal?

So every night before going to bed I used to be grateful and bless all the doctors that I visited. It changed my perspective on the entire thing!

I was happy; I did not care about anyone else’s thought on it and most importantly, no one close to me bothered anyway! I kept doing my deeds, living my life and by God’s grace, I only made friends who would love me for who I am not the way I looked. In fact I was given compliments on how good I looked (I workout everyday).

God has different plans for everyone. I, from my university days was a party guy and people who knew me can vouch for that. Somehow after getting a little spiritual and starting to meditate, I stopped drinking alcohol. I became vegetarian and my life was healthier and fitter than always! Vitiligo taught me a lot of things. I have learnt the necessity of being grateful, the importance of correct thoughts and to do the right thing.

We need to understand that there are far worse things that can happen to people and we are just blessed that we are not one of those people.

Live your life by blessing others and be grateful for what you have.

I was in a spa a little while ago, and The masseuse asked me how did I feel about these patches. To which my reply was “what patches?” She was very nice and polite and continued the conversation saying that it would be difficult for a woman to have vitiligo. Obviously she was referring to the Indian society and arrange marriages etc. But don’t we all have some insecurity that way? Why should how we look become an insecurity so big?

I stumbled upon few profiles on instagram and amongst the top models, I came across Winnie Harlow who everyone should look upto as an inspiration! Read her stories. Another profile I want to share is of Széles Adrienn. Go through her posts and get inspired! These are a few of so many women who have done so well by flaunting their spots!

You know what, we are all beautiful.

If you want to get in touch with me, please do email me at abhishek.bubna@gmail.com

or any of my social media pages here!