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There is a necessity to go beyond the traditional notions of beauty such as looks, weight and the like, and truly appreciate the bodies we have.
She was beautiful. I saw her and instantly was struck by her rustic beauty. She was sitting there at her vegetable stall at the square, wearing a glittery dark pink saree, adorned with jewellery. Her wrists had those shining pink tinkering bangles. With those dark kohled eyes and vermilion on her forehead, she was glowing with a beauty of contentment.
Yes, she is a regular vegetable seller all decked up for the festival of karwa chauth. Both her husband and she run the small vegetable shop at the corner of street, with she doing most of the work and her husband counting the cash received from customer. She was working on the day of the karwa chauth fast and was gleaming with the excitement of the festival.
Even on other days when I see her, she is always pleasant with a smile. She is far from feminist revolutions or from the fact that sometimes she is working harder than her husband. She might be ignorant, but is still content with her situation and this makes her appear more beautiful.
Today’s world sets a certain materialistic and superficial standard for beauty. Then, there are the philosophical thoughts that beauty lies in the eyes of beholder, that beauty should be inner and should not be just physical. With higher education, constant social media attention and commercialisation, the simplicity of being beautiful is getting lost.
Everyone is beautiful in a very unique sense. These days, one concept which is becoming a catch phrase is body shaming. The glamour world sets a standard of physical beauty and the masses try to follow it, without realizing that it’s just virtual.
We should strive to be physically fit rather than to get external approval of our physical appearance. Once we are comfortable in our skin, our physique, there comes the acceptance from within. Loving ourselves the way we are, not only boosts up the confidence, but also makes it a way to thank our creator.
Those beautiful pictures of models are aesthetically pleasing, and should be appreciated for the hard work they put in to look picture perfect. But the real beauty lies in the hardworking women who take care of the home and the work place, and get very little time for themselves. They don’t get their pictures photoshopped or airbrushed.
The perspiration and effort that goes while working in a kitchen to make a wholesome meal for family adds to the beauty. The concern and care we carry in our hearts makes us beautiful. The wrinkles of years of experience and laughter lines of shared joys makes for more stunning beauty.
Beauty is never branded nor it can be ever packaged. When we look around ourselves, people around us and make an effort to connect, then we can see the beautiful side of them. I think that is when we call someone a beautiful soul. Beauty cannot be gender based. A man can be beautiful and not necessarily handsome, carrying a beautiful mind and soul within himself.
Gaining a few kilos after becoming a mother sometimes affects women in different ways. Some may feel the need to get back to their pre-partum self as soon as possible. Some might just go with the flow, accepting the new changes and letting things take their own course. But what is beautiful here, is the phase of motherhood. The change is not just physical but overall. There lies the beauty when you adapt to changes and accept it. The stretch marks, the weight gain doesn’t make a difference. It’s the person in you who makes the difference.
I have seen people fretting about their appearance and also people who carry their appearance confidently. Their confidence is their biggest asset, which comes only when you love yourself first. You don’t need approval. You are nature’s creation and there is a purpose in your being.
Whatever colour, size, looks we might have – we all possess that inner beauty which should be acknowledged and respected by ourselves first, and the rest of the world becomes a beautiful place itself. Like the way I see the beautiful smile of that dusky rustic beauty, selling those vegetables. Her composure and lack of inhibitions to the worldly glamour adds to the grace, making me take a moment to behold her innocence.
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Image Source:By Yosarian (Own work) [CC BY-SA 2.5], via Wikimedia Commons
I am a law graduate, but right now enjoying being home maker and a doting mom to my five year old son. I like to write, expressions through words as words in itself are soul read more...
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