True beauty comes from within

There is too much talk of beauty now. Isn’t it time we look at true beauty within instead of talking only about external beauty ?

Long back in the colony where I lived in Delhi, there was an old woman with crooked teeth and a hunchback. She however was the most popular person as she was always smiling and even carried a small pouch with toffees for children and some pooja flowers that she shared with the elderly. She was a kind of agony aunt in the entire colony and people reached out to her to share any issue they had, both minor and major. Here too, it was her patient hearing that they found truly empowering. In all their issues,  she would hold their hand and empathise with them with a smile. When she felt that the issue was a serious one, she would tell them to pray with faith and assure them she would do so too. In areas where she could do something, she would lend a hand, be it looking after a child or giving company to the elderly.  She was known as “chachi”; or aunt to all, both the rich and ordinary. People started flocking to her more than to a beauty queen for she was truly genuine and everyone knew they could rely on her. This according to me is true beauty in an era where we are focussing too much on external beauty.

Health and beauty

With focus on external beauty, there is too much attention on cosmetics that are even harmful to us. Especially in the skin care area, there are a lot of products that could be hazardous to our skin health. Though many people say that the colour of skin does not matter, people especially in the Indian subcontinent,  are still obsessed with skin colour. For instance, despite  having many qualifications and abilities, my friend who is a bit dark in complexion never found a match for quite some time. She was disheartened but instead of feeling bad for herself, she began to focus on making herself a better person and started doing a lot of social work as well. Seeing all this, her colleague fell in love with her  and both of them are happily married now.  They are indeed an example to many of us.. However, there still is discrimination against those who are dark-skinned in our nation. In this scenario, there are many products catering to this desire to look fair.. Some of these are harmful and have s been pointed out even by the World Health Organisaion. 

We are born with certain physical features and colour. Along with this, we do have many traits and inner talents that we can definitely work on to enhance our true beauty. This shall make us better human beings and make us gain true friends and love as well.

Inspirations

The late former president, A P J Abdul Kalam, said in a famous speech that we all are born with certain looks but can extend our hand to all around us to make ourselves  truly beautiful.  He was not just a president but a true people’s president remembered till today by all. This was what made him a true inspiration and role model to many.

Physical  beauty may fade but inner beauty remains with us forever and we always remember people who touched our hearts through their inner beauty and deeds like great people like late APJ Kalam and the lady I mentioned in the beginning.