Beauty is about being comfortable in your own skin.
It is about knowing and accepting who you are.
(Ellen DeGeneres)
"You are ugly," That boy said to me.
My classmates called that boy, Surya, a name that derived from Sanskrit word which has the meaning of 'Sun'. But, he is nothing like that star which has always been the center of the solar system. The sun is warm, nice and always shines brightly during the day, but Surya is different. He is mean, rude and has a gloomy look all over his face .
I know that he hates me. So for the first time he tried to scornfully abuse me, I ignored him.
But, once again he tried to insult me.
"Maria, you are so so... ugly. You look like a orangutan."
I realized that I am not beautiful, but not unattractive either. I'm just different from the rest of my schoolmates. I studied in a private catholic elementary school, many of my schoolmates was a Chinese descent. They have a lighter and softer skin than me. I am a 'pureblood' Javanese , both of my parents were born and raised in Special Region of Yogyakarta. As a Javanese, I have a yellow-tanned skin which they consider as a 'darker' skin than theirs.
At that time, I was just a fifth grader in elementary school. My height was 5 feet or 155 in cm. I was the second tallest girl in my class. I'm taller and skinnier than Surya, which made him feel more annoyed. And the humiliation is getting worse, when Surya became my seatmate.
One day, when my teacher ask us about our medical histories. Surya voluntary answered my medical questions. He said to my teacher that my face has suffered from pimple and tinea versicolor or in Indonesia, we called it 'Panu'. I knew that my face had a lighter patches of skin which distinguish my upper face and my lower face. But it is not a tinea versicolor, which caused by fungal infection of the skin. My skin has a different tone of colour, because unusual pigmentation on my face, it called pityriasis alba, It often presents following sun exposure, because tanning of surrounding skin makes affected areas more prominent.