An Ode to Beauty

 Shapes of all Sorts and Sizes, great and small,

That stood along the floor and by the wall;

And some loquacious Vessels were; 

and some Listen'd perhaps, but never talk'd at all. 

   After a momentary silence spake

Some Vessel of a more ungainly Make;

"They sneer at me for leaning all awry:

What! did the Hand then of the Potter shake

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

         Pots of all sizes and shape are having a philosophical discussion on the Good and Kind Potter who has made them all, who will certainly care for them when their usefulness is at an end. The creator is vested with all kinds of imaginary virtues, until an ugly, misshapen pot poignantly asks, 'When the Potter was at his wheel, did the Hand then of the Potter shake?'

      We live in a world that is obsessed with beauty. Beauty sells and how! The market place adores beauty. To sell anything all that it needs is to be associated with a beautiful person. The Hyundai Santro, with its unconventional hatch back looks needed a Shahrukh Khan to sell it. Beauty sells everything and not just in the glamour industry. Beauty products, slimming centres, spas, nature resorts, wellness holidays and of course the friendly neighbourhood plastic surgeon panders to this craze. The first impression one makes may well be based on the existence or non existence of our looks! Research has even established that there is a correlation between one’s salary and one’s height in the corporate sector. By this calculation, someone who is 6 feet tall earns $5,525 more annually than someone who is 5 feet, 6 inches.

        In matters of the heart too your looks can give you a head start. As a teenager I was pretty much obsessed with the question of beauty. I would spend hours in front of the mirror, wondering if I had that X factor that could make a girl fall in love with me. Should I grow my hair long so that it fashionably curled over my collar, or should I wear shades that accentuated my eyes, or should I wear that Aviator Jacket with all those pockets and zips or should I wear heels so that I would be at least two inches taller?  I had no role models  because those days girls and boys rarely mingled.  All that I had to go by was the stories of a friend who boasted of his various conquests. And to me, he was no Adonis just a normal kid with perhaps a heightened imagination.  Yes, he was in the School Cricket Team, but so were many others who were as lonely as I. There was one thing though – he had courage. While my throat would be stricken when conversing with a girl, he was very confident and bold in his advances. In time I played the lead in the School Play, and being put in the company of my fellow actresses, I too got over my painful shyness. But still, I have always wondered what is it that makes you attracted to a person, was it the eyes, the complexion, the symmetry of the face, the attitude , the figure or that X factor – which some people have and most don’t.

    Rajesh Khanna looked maddeningly attractive on screen but in real life was quite unprepossessing. Amitabh Bachhan, not much of a looker, but what a personality! Madhuri Dixit, Sridevi,  Aishwarya Rai, Demi Moore, Tom Cruise, Meg Ryan, all so different yet so beautiful. Why then do some of the most beautiful women marry aging, paunchy, balding men? More important, what makes the world’s most beautiful men and women flock to their yoga gurus, the Beatles to Mahesh Yogi and Richard Gere to the Dalai Lama.

    The glow on the Dalai Lama’s face, the sparkle in Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s eyes, the naughtiness in Thich Nhat Hen, the peace of the Buddha, the love that radiates from Jesus, eloquently speak of a different kind of beauty. How does a humble seeker attain this inner beauty? Is it by meditation or is it by yoga or is it by prayer?

     One thing I do know – a person with inner beauty has an aura of serenity around him. The vibrations emanating from such a soul is peaceful, harmonious, and creates no ripples around him. These souls have nothing to achieve, nowhere else to be other than where they are now. There is perfect composure, no fidgeting, no restlessness to make their point, even if a TV anchor like Arnab Goswami is going hammer and tongs at them. There is a ‘Peace that passeth all understanding’ around them. All of those fortunate to be in their vicinity feel refreshed and rejuvenated. And when they are no more in this world, their fragrance lingers on.