Beauty-P or Bea-UTP :P

May 25, 2009 – 7:08 PM

Creative with the title right? Hehe…I know its lame. But that’s what today’s post is about. Beauty as UTP sees it. I used the same content for a Toastmaster’s speech this last Tuesday so thought I might as well make use of the effort and make a blog post out of it.

There is a famous folk story about Laila Majnoo. I am sure many people have heard of it. It goes that Laila was very dark in complexion and yet Majnoo was crazy about her. Let me narrate a beautiful verse…

Loagan aakhiya Majnay toon, oh tedi Laila rang dee kaali…
Majnoo aay jawab ditta, tu sakoon akh nahi dekharn wali…

Which roughly translates, people asked Majnoo, that your Laila is dark in complexion and Majnoo replied you don’t have the eyes that see her beauty.

Its a point to quote the stereotype, “Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.” That’s exactly what I believe in as well.

The glossy magazine & advertisements showing zero-figure appearances of super-models females or otherwise have just distorted the image of beauty that we originally had. The true sense of beauty has got lost somewhere.

Ask the mother. Is your child beautiful? What a ridiculous question right?

Let me ask you. Is your mother beautiful? Are her wrinkly hands beautiful to you? I would probably get beat up if I ask that in public.

I can  tell you from personal experience that a new born baby in the hands of the father is the most beautiful and purest sight existent today. Unfortunately, the baby soon grows up and gets introduced to the pre-conceived notion of beauty as we have accepted as a given now. Soon she will realize that its a completely different version that is assumed by everyone so it must be true.

I fear a day when my daughter comes up to me and asks me, “Baby, am I ugly?” Now, what do I reply to that? Just because somebody called her ugly, she would come up and ask me that right?

I think the word ugly was just invented for the sake of it. They would have had the word beautiful since God made everybody beautiful. Then the devil’s advocate came in and asked, “Who do we call somebody who is not beautiful?” And the so-called smart man who had been given intellect came up with the Smart Alec reply…”I know, I know…lets call it ugly…”

Ugly in itself has no stance whatsoever.

My question is, who are we to define the element of beauty? How did we assume that we have the right to call anybody ugly? Its just so unfair and displays extreme arrogance.

Is it looks? Most people believe so. Whether we accept or not, we do get attracted to beautiful and handsome, don’t we? Well OK so God made them good-looking, beautiful-looking but that doesn’t exactly mean that they are beautiful right. In the truest sense, beauty is something much more deeper.

It is something beyond the obvious. Its like you see a really juicy red apple and when you take a bite, it could be rotten inside. Its much much more deeper. Its not about the skin and more about the heart and soul. Its about the good deeds. Its about the behavior and nature.

When we judge beauty with our eyes, we can only see what is visible which is the skin, the appearance. I think in order to be able to see real beauty we need to open the eye of the soul so that we are able to see the other souls around as well.

Beauty can be different for different people. But the roots are very close. 

In continuation from the verse above, let me take the next verse…

Chittay warq quran day, oh jehn kay siyahi rang dee kaali…
oh jehn naal dil arh paway, oh gori huay ya kaali…

Roughly translated as, 

The paper of The Holy Quran is white as well. It only starts making sense when the Black ink falls on it. Majnoo trys to explain in a form of philosophy. When the heart likes somebody then it doesn’t matter whether that person is white or black. WAH!!!

Beauty is what your eyes see. The purity of your heart will be able to see the beauty everywhere just like God created it. Just like He wanted you to see it. Take the material curtains off your eyes and open the eye of your heart.

There is nothing artificial about it. Look around you. Look at your home, your work, your school. Look at how beautiful God made this world. Go out and look at this world in a different way. See how the world looks back at you in a different way. Lets get back to the basics. Lets get back to the real beauty that exists even today.

How long will the assumed artificial beauty last anyway? 10 years? 20 years? Life is much longer than that, isnt it?

 

Read more posts from Motivational Mondays

P.S. I am going on a blogging break for a little while. Got a hectic schedule ahead. Dont strike me off your RSS readers and you can keep enjoying the Archives if you feel like it. Thanks so much for being a reader of UTP. It means so much to me to know that you are constantly reading what I write from the heart.

In the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger, “I’ll be back…!!!”

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Friday Funnies - Economy Down the Flush

May 22, 2009 – 12:00 AM

Economy Down The FLUSH

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Trackback Thursdays - Bulley, Rock On!!!

May 21, 2009 – 12:00 AM

I dedicate this post to one of the most frequent visitors here. Mr. Sidhu Saaheb. I found this guy in the blogosphere only and have never met him. I don’t know how old he is. I don’t know who he really is. I only know him from the way he writes and what he writes. I found his posts always insightful and of the highest quality.

We do share a love for Sufism, I feel. I have had some thoughtful comments on whatever few Bulley Shah posts I have had. There is much more to learn from him. 

I am tracking back a nice post from him where he has compiled 4 songs which have taken Bulley’s words and made a modernized version of it so it appeals to the masses and yet conveys the simple messages that Bulley left with.

Love the song Bandeya.

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Motivational Mondays - Winning Re-Defined

May 18, 2009 – 12:00 AM

In this cut-throat world of competition where we are always striving for success and trying to win every battle that we get part of, it is very natural to be stressed out. It is inhuman to win every time with the way we define winning today.

We think we have to be the best to win. Winning doesn’t always mean that.

Lets take an example of a contest which has some judges who decide who wins. It could be a beauty contest, a speech contest etc. Winning in a judged contest may not mean you were the best. Similar losing or coming second doesn’t mean that you are bad. The fact of the matter is that improving and growing is the real way of winning.

Winning doesn’t always mean being first, winning means you’re doing better than you did before - Bonnie Blair

I like this quote specifically because it emphasizes on continuous improvement. Improving is winning. I think based on this point, it may be a better deal at times to come second. You still get the limelight for coming in second and yet you didn’t get the award after which arrogance and feeling of perfection come in. It is very natural to feel there is nothing to improve upon if you came in first.

So lets re-define winning today. Winning is not being the best. Winning is more about improving and growing with every next attempt.

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Friday Funnies - Bank Loans These Days

May 15, 2009 – 12:00 AM

Lots of people amaze me. The concept of loans has just changed how we function. And in the words of Celine Dion, “Its all coming back to me now…” :P

There was a time when I used to get at least 2 phone calls a day from people for loans 20 times my salary!!! Crazy. Thank God I wasn’t attracted towards it. Anyway, talk about the situation now. The graph is on the other extreme these days. I think the following illustrates it perfectly.

Bank Loans

 

 

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