“Akka (Sister) what is beauty?” a little kid put forth this simple question to me. To which I answered playfully telling her “Kutty, Beauty is the squeezed up face that you put up when I press your nose like this”. She gave me her usual naughty smile and galloped from that place. But her question was still lingering in me and it was not a simple one as I thought it was. As I contemplated over this question over and over, different answers kept popping out from my “thinker box”. Unlike a few of us, many have a different perception of the noun “beauty”. Most of their answers were connected to the physical appearance and looks of an individual. So that is what beauty is all about? Pedicures and manicures, facials, makeovers, and grooming? Being fair, being tall, having the best hair, best skin??? The scientific explanation behind the dark complexion is due to the secretion of melanin pigment in our body and that is so hard to fathom by the layman. All these physical traits are the mere expression of qualitative and quantitative genes. But I think beauty is more than that; it should be an expression of a qualitative heart. Every human on earth wants to be beautiful in one way or the other. Some are born with it and some synthesize it! I have seen a few who not only are obsessed with this “beauty buzz” but also victimize others in the name of it. So much of Sturm und Drang over this little thing called “beauty”, I wonder why?!! Being a girl explains a lot. In adolescence, “trying-to-make-yourself-look-good” was the most life-threatening or should I call “peer threatening” problem, every teen would face! Getting a zit was out of the beauty equation! All the green eyes would be all over you if you try out anything trendy. Any beauty products showcased in media should be at their doorstep the next moment, by throwing tantrums on their parents and trying out every beauty formula that comes to the nearby malls. Trying to look good on one hand is different when it comes to being obsessed with it on the other!
Many men who have walked the historical path holding the “scepter of glory” are celebrated not for their looks but for their epochal masterpiece with which they made into our mind books! How many of us know Leonardo Da Vinci for his appearance? But we all have witnessed his most beautiful painting “MONALISA”! Da Vinci did not use any cosmetics or jewelry but just a sable brush and palette of colors to make a beauteous creation. For that matter, great legendary musicians, artists, scientists, political tycoons, philanthropists whose names have been etched in history are remembered for their resplendent contribution to mankind.
Why don’t people accept the way you are and not for how you are?! Beauty is after all skin deep! Beauty is everywhere; all you have to do is open your eyes and look around!!
