What is this thing called beauty? Is it all about one’s looks,
one’s sense of dressing and everything that makes a person look attractive? Or
is it beyond that?
We live in a very superficial world. Everyone is only
interested in the outer covering, no one cares to bother about what lies
within. We all are very familiar with the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
But when it comes to selecting a book we certainly first go by the cover. The
first book that we grab at a bookstore is the one that has the most attractive
covering. A beautiful picture or an attractive and colorful font is what grabs
our attention. Nobody picks a book that has a very subtle covering. After all
it must be appealing to the eyes. What the book contains comes way later. And then
having purchased the most attractive looking book from the book store we soon realize
that it contains nothing else but crap!
When we can be so biased towards appearance even in the
selection of a book that actually has nothing got to do with it imagine the
case with others. In every college the most attractive girl no matter how mean
and selfish she may be gets the most number of proposals. It is the dream of
every boy in that college to make her his girlfriend. But how many proposals
does a girl who may be the best at heart get? Nobody is interested in making
her his girlfriend because her looks are not worth being flaunted. Same is the
case with girls. It is a matter of pride to have a boyfriend good looking
enough to make all her female friends jealous.
What people fail to understand is the fact that looks are
very much deceptive. The appearance outside may just be a veil to cover one’s
true identity. What lies inside may be completely opposite of what we perceive
to be within.
And this bias towards appearance prevails everywhere. Right
from getting jobs, to endorsements in ads, to getting favors. We have so many
beauty pageants every year where a girl is rewarded with her beauty. And to win
this competition you ought to be the best looking soul on earth with a perfect
body, lovely hair, flawless skin, mesmerizing eyes, perfect smile and so on.
The count goes on forever. But is beauty only limited to that? What about her character,
her nature, her behavior towards others, her attitude towards life. Don’t these
things matter? And if they do, then why aren’t these things considered while
judging the participants?
What people fail to realize is that beauty is not just skin
deep but much more beyond that. I am not saying here that those who are good
looking possess the worst of hearts. There are many who by God’s grace are
prettiest not just by the face but also in their hearts. But I am just trying
to advocate on the point that it is wrong to judge a person only by his or her
appearance. It is wrong to make wrong judgments based on appearances. And who
are we to discriminate among people. We are all after all God’s creation. And God
certainly does not give everything to everyone. Some are gifted with face and
some are gifted with a heart. And it is up to us to decide whether in the long
run the face would matter or the heart because after a point of time beauty may
fade but a person’s deeds will remain forever to stay!
