By RAY OZOLUA
Sitting in an airport lounge this morning, I did not imagine that my day would be spiced up by my interaction with the diminutive but very handsome and superbly intelligent man, Aki. I have always admired him for overcoming the discriminations that were certainly associated with his size.
Me: Good morning. You are Aki, right?
Aki: Yes. You? (With a welcoming smile).
Me: My name is Ray Ozolua, a professor at the University of Benin. I am so glad to meet you, having inspired my students by your zest and extraordinary theatrical endowment.
Aki smiled. I asked him how he was able to project himself to prominence giving the proclivity for derogatory comments against persons who could have belonged to the tribe of Lilliput in Jonathan Swift’s 1726 novel, Gulliver’s Travels. I told him I believed that he was inspired by Danny DeVitto, the American actor who compared with him height-wise. He corrected that he was inspired early in life by Garry Coleman of the Different Strokes TV series that aired between the late 1970s and mid-1980s. As we discussed, his phone rang, and the caller was “My World”, his pet name for his very pretty and adorable wife. Of course, it accentuated our laughter when I remarked that he was more romantic than many a professor.
In my classes on the pharmacology of growth hormone and dopamine receptor antagonists, I often veer off to tell students about body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). This condition is real and can, in worst cases, lead to reclusiveness, depression and even suicide. Sufferers compare themselves with others and wish for better shape or size of an external anatomical part or whole. Those who were in the boarding house during the formative and yet impressionable stage of life seem to cope better. I have often advised parents to talk to their children about BDD. Height, weight, shape, and much more; penile and breast sizes are often the issues.
Aki proves to everyone that we can rise above artificial, tribal, societal limitations or obstacles erected by fellow human beings. He strengthens what I was taught early in life, “it is not the size of a man that matters, but the use of the man”. Surely, this four-hour flight connection wait has been worthwhile. My new friend, Aki is a great delight to have.
•Source: Sundiata Post Assembly WhatsApp platform
