“You must remind yourself that it’s ok not to be perfect.”
While this quote is quite uplifting, not all people having body deformities deal with it the same way. Some struggle to overcome them while others falter and give up.
Vitiligo, also known as leucoderma, is one such defect that has taken down many over the years. It is a rare skin condition in which uneven distribution of epidermal melanin results in discoloured patches on the skin.
However, no matter how unappealing social stigma the rare skin disease may carry, it cannot break the spirits of people like Kartiki Bhatnagar!
Yes, Kartiki is just a regular 17-year-old girl studying in class 12, sans the usual appearance of people of her age. She developed vitiligo skin early on in life. Since then, her social journey had been thwarted with taunts, bullying and discrimination.
Not to mention, even her relatives persuaded her to cover up the spots when stepping out. At this tender age, bowing down to social pressure and stigma could have been the only option for most 17-year-olds. Not for Kartiki though!
The inspiration behind Kartiki’s life-transforming body of art
Today, Kartiki is known for the famous Instagram campaign that motivates people to desexualise the midriff and embrace imperfections. Nevertheless, the inspiration for all of it has been her struggle with leucoderma.
Once, while struggling with vitiligo’s discrimination, Kartiki met this friend of her who gave a new perception to the discoloured patches. In her words, she found it “beautiful”.
In the bewilderment of the realisation that it’s all about one’s perception towards life, she saw this deformity in a new light for the first time. It was when Kartiki was inspired to give her life a fresh splash of colours, quite literally!
The body of art and its many hues…
While the skin disease is still incurable in medical science, Kartiki found her own vitiligo cure. It first started with outlining her skin patches with a sketch pen. Although she was reluctant to do so in the beginning, this miniscule initiative felt unburdening.
She followed it with outlining all the discoloured patches on her body and mapped every spot. By the time she ended with it, her spots had acquired entirely new forms and shapes like mountains or oceans.
This transformation from mundane to something so extraordinary was life-changing. Today, Kartiki has her website where she keeps posting imaginary designs of her leucoderma spots in numerous hues.
She even loves to call herself ‘vitiloger’ today, a term coined by her for people who struggle with this rare skin deformity.
An inspiration for ‘vitilogers’
While individuals cannot have control over how or when they develop this disease, they can always choose to take it in their stride. This is a strong message Kartiki’s passion for life leaves for others.
While medical science remains a hope to bring vitiligo’s permanent cure, Kartiki Bhatnagar stands as a living example of embracing life during adversity. Her unique paintings over discoloured vitiligo patches and cheerful endeavours to spread this message are bow-worthy.
Today, Kartiki is also taking initiatives to uplift women from the lower strata of society. Not to mention, her efforts to help people hug body positivity have brought her global acclaim and recognition.
Long live Kartiki’s spirit!