Beauty and The Beast

I have always hated the way i looked in most of my photos.The reason being that i could never accept myself for what i am.I have always felt something majorly lacking in my face.That's the word for it.... Beauty!

Think beautiful face and you may see the image of Aishwarya Rai flash before your eyes. I won't blame you for that b'cos I would think the same.These days her face has come to define beauty or so think most people.After all she is one of the "most beautiful" women in the world and she has also been compared to the beauty of the Taj Mahal.WOW! isn't that great. Wish i was she.

"Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder" is an age old quote.But it is true.What may seem beautiful to some eyes may not even be pretty to others.In todays times, looks sell more than personality.And people are willing to go under the surgeon's knife to get that "Glam Doll" look of a Bipasha Basu or a Celina Jaitley.These people and scores of "stars" like them have come to be the so called benchmarks of beauty.Gone are the days when people were accepted as they were..looks, personality et all. Sad! :(

But in the haste to look like the demi gods and goddesses of the big screen, most of us completely forget that everything we see, is in reality make believe.Believe it or not, but with the right kind of make-up and make-up artist, appropriate light effects, camera angles, a good photographer and a good camera, most of us could be transformed into gorgeous beings.True, Aishwarya is beautiful, but catch her sans make-up, viola.... she would perhaps look plainer than the average plain Jane.No wonder the "Stars" hate being caught on camera without the add ons (read make-up).If you ask me, the real compliment for most women looking beautiful these days should go to Revlon,Avon, Lakme,Chanel,Maybelline,Estee Lauder, Shiseido etc...etc. But for their foundations,lipsticks,mascara,eye liners,eye shadows, face powders and what not more.And not to forget the ingenious ways in which women use these cosmetics.

Why are we so obsessed with good looks? Is it that looking good can get you places or land you that plum job? Or is it in our genes? I for one have always been insecure about my looks.... that's because i have been the subject of ridicule in my younger years.I have been told very often that "Gorapan"(fairness) is what counts.It makes you look beautiful.Dark people cannot look nice leave alone seem beautiful.But i havn't seen any drastic changes on the faces of people who have applied tonnes of fairness creams.Maybe it bleached their facial skin, but it did nothing to change their perspective or thought process of how they perceive beauty.But that is another matter altogether and i shall dwell on it some other time.

So, if looking beautiful requires the application of creams and lotions, lipsticks and lip liners, shaving, waxing and threading ... i shall prefer to be the Beast.