‘Chitra was a regular kid but your nani kept going at her constantly, saying she was doing this for her own good, that she wouldn’t get a good match if she continued to be so thin. Now your Ma and I didn’t let it affect us that much. We listened to them and we ignored them. It was easier and we were honestly having far too much fun in our lives,’ she said.

‘Why are you telling me all this?’ I asked her finally.

‘Because we didn’t want to do that to our kids. We didn’t want to make them feel inadequate. We wanted you all to feel loved. No matter what. And I’m telling you this now because I want you to be happy with yourself. I haven’t had the chance to stay with you guys in a long time so I didn’t notice before, but now that I’m here, I’ve seen how little you eat, and what you eat. It’s not healthy, Ananya. Chitra told me some years ago that there was a period when you weren’t eating anything at all. And she was worried about you. That she even took you to a psychiatrist.’

I looked down. ‘Yeah, but I’m fine. I don’t need any help,’ I mumbled.

Aunty V shook her head. ‘I would have brought it up with Chitra if she wasn’t so tired and worried about having a baby in her forties, but I’m like your mother too. That’s why I’m talking about this with you directly. You’re a growing girl. You can’t starve yourself to look a certain way,’ she said.

‘I’m not starving myself,’ I protested. ‘Do you think I’d still look like this if I was starving myself?’ I extended my arms out without a thought and then brought them back in, closer to my body, my face turning red as I realized what I’d said.

She shook her head. ‘Yes, you’re not starving yourself, but I can’t forget what you said about being a work in progress. No one is perfect. But you can’t just keep striving to reach that certain level of perfection. You can’t miss out on all the exciting things life has to offer because you’re too worried about what you look like!’

I pursed my lips. I was getting tired of listening to her sanctimonious speech and of the body neutrality or positivity articles she kept sending me.

I shook my head. ‘That’s what you think, Aunty. But I won’t be included in any of these “exciting things that life has to offer” unless I look a certain way. You can’t be so naïve!’ I said, getting up.

‘No, wait, Ananya. It’s not like that. Your confidence is in your mind,’ she said, getting up too.