Editor: Deepthy Ramdas
Cast: Jazz Sethi, Founder and director, Diabesties; Pragya Bakshi, Diabesties Maharashtra Head and writer; Indu Thampy, Diabesties Kerala head, actor
Script: Team Diabesties
For 24-year-old Type 1 diabetic Jazz Sethi, being confronted with ignorant questions about her diabetes is par for the course.
1. "Oh you're a diabetic. But you don’t ‘look’ like a diabetic"
2. Itni kam umar mein?
30-year-old Indu Thampy and 25-year-old Pragya Bakshi head the Diabesties Community's Maharashtra and Kerala head. Even though the three ladies live in different cities, the struggles of diabetes they face, along with the prejudices they are met with, are no different.
3. Are you contagious?
Sigh! Questions like these and the general lack of awareness around Type 1 diabetes prompted Jazz to start a YouTube channel called 'Diabesties' where she documents her journey, as well as that of others, of being a Type 1 diabetic.
Together, the three are confronted with all sorts of weird, awkward, sexist and mean comments about being a young Type 1 diabetic. From well-meaning elders worried about their shaadi prospects, to insensitive HRs asking if they can handle the workload owing to their condition.
Surely, these people don't know that Type 1 diabetes, also called juvenile diabetes, is common among children and teens. Surely, these people also don't know that in India, there are three new cases of T1DM per 1 lakh children in the age between 0-14 years. And surely, these people don't know that for a country which has been touted as the diabetes capital of the world, there is a surprising lack of empathy and information regarding Type 1 diabetes.
But now, the trio is fighting back!
They are letting the aam janta know the things they and other Type 1 diabetics are tired of hearing. They are also subconsciously letting us know that they are not here to be invisibilised, or dismissed as bechari victims, but as women who are tackling their medical challenges with lots of sass.
They are here to tell us their struggles, their pains, and their pet peeves with a khatta-meetha take (no pun intended!)
PS: Ask a diabetic these questions again at your own risk.
Special thanks to Diabesties team for arranging the footage.
(Join FIT’s #PollutionKaSolution campaign by becoming an anti-air pollution warrior. Send in your questions, your stories of how to tackle air pollution and your ideas to FIT@thequint.com)
(This story was auto-published from a syndicated feed. No part of the story has been edited by The Quint.)
(The Quint is available on Telegram. For handpicked stories every day, subscribe to us on Telegram)
We'll get through this! Meanwhile, here's all you need to know about the Coronavirus outbreak to keep yourself safe, informed, and updated.
Liked this story? We'll send you more. Subscribe to The Quint's newsletter and get selected stories delivered to your inbox every day. Click to get started.
The Quint is available on Telegram & WhatsApp too, click to join.