On Acceptance..

Vitiligo is a harmless white patch on skin- but due to poor awareness, society reacts negatively and the person is often subjected to meaningless discrimination. Here is a poem from Mr Arvind Gupta, which says everything, that needs to be said, not just about Vitiligo, but all other superficial differences in our looks and functions..

On World Vitiligo Day

I have something to say

Arvind Gupta

In God’s good world, no jokes

There are simply all kinds of folks

Some are fair, some are brown

Some are poor, some wear a crown

But a few, in a hundred just two

Have on their skin

May be the chin

Or on their shin

A patch of white

Like a dappled light

Light! Did you say Light!

The patch looks lovely bright

But for many

This patch of light

Is not a good sight

Mother’s freeze!

Father’s trapeze!!

What sin’s we did

To deserve such a kid

The first reaction

Is to hide and cover

Let not anyone discover!

Don’t show your charms

Cover your arms

Wear long sleeves

In the sultry heat

Difficulties count

Anxieties mount

All specialists fail

Tall claims derail!

Then everyone is set

On the Internet

Where Quacks loot

They need the boot!

Soon the white patch

Grows and spreads

The sun makes it

A little red

But touch it, tickle it,

Lick it, twitch it,

It feels like any other

Patch of skin

A little faded perhaps

Otherwise all akin.

The story begins now

For we must question how

A white patch on the face

A bit of skin on the surface

Can become so sore

And affect the core!

How can it traumatize?

How can it paralyze?

HIV and AIDS

Let us face

Are threatening

To wipe out

The human race

But how can Vitiligo

Harmless, not even skin deep

Can cause a trauma so deep?

It’s time we spoke the truth

And nailed the lie.

Vitiligo is not a disease

It is just a state where

The body's share

Of Melanin

Color pigment

Grows a little thin.

That’s ALL.

People with Vitiligo

And God has been kind

Have a very healthy body

And an equally healthy mind

So move AHEAD

Learn More, Care More

Share Skills, Change Lives

We've split the atom

But not our prejudice

It’s time to celebrate

Our differences

Celebrate the confluence

Of Ying and Yang

Of Dark and White

The splendid hues of

Differences and dignity

Nature hates monocultures

Both of the body and the mind

You will find this strewn on leaves

Most leaves are dark, others pale

But a few leaves are both dark and pale

These leaves are often overrated

Scientists call them variegated.

So if you ever meet

A child with a white patch

She might be sulking

Miserable, in a catch

Make her feel great

Touch her soul

Lift her self-esteem

So that she feels liberated

And her spirits

Can soar.

18 May 2008

arvindguptatoys@gmail.com