-Girish Karnaad-“Hayavadana”
Perfection is a pervading and encompassing illusion, a mirage that unfortunately, our species is obsessed with. So deep and unconscious is our need for perfection that we judge on appearance and physical worth ,that abstraction of the body completely dislocates it from the mind-body-soul that is our being.
It is something that we cannot understand (as aptly stated in by Mr.Girish Karnad) and the pursuit of it leads us to a generally miserable existence.
Women tend to succumb to this pressure generally on account of being “the fairer sex”.(Men are catching up to this wide spread insecurity that they dumbbell themselves to the hospital )
They feel ill-adjusted as soon as they come across a glossy magazine with the proverbial green monster on their backs.
Yet,models of these magazines do not feel like themselves when they see those pages.(courtesy of Photoshop, air-brushing)
Innumerable procedures invasive and otherwise guarantee that you will look better and feel more confident when you use their products.
The “Fair and Lovely” advert is pretty anti-feminist and slightly offensive when it says you need to be fairer to be confident enough to speak to your father about your life choices. Not to mention how pathetically contrived it is while targeting the younger antagonized generation that yearns to be heard.
Then we have celebrities like Victoria Beckham smearing nightingale faeces on their face for the glow (of embarrassment) and carry impractically oversized purses(Oh, the backache!) looking like she may tip over any minute.
You know what i did last summer!? 😉
This unfortunately is the first layer of the rotten onion.
Then we have the highly invasive (sometimes fatal) surgical procedures-liposuction and augmentation….
Then people injecting themselves with toxins (Botox=>Botulism Toxin) completely destroying their ability to emote.
As ridiculous as all this is I can’t help but wonder where did this dissatisfaction with body images start?
Torturous procedure like lotus feet ,corsets ,needles sticking out through the skin was taking place all over the world in their own various customs and traditions defining beauty in their own specific ways.
The effort existed since the birth of civilization (and maybe even before that).
As technology progressed we stopped viewing it like torture and more as self-improvement and the method of altering yourself became more sophisticated yet more drastic and acceptable.
The intellectuals of our society implore us to move on to the more substantial and important parts of our lives.
Explore our minds and delve into your subconscious to find the pearls of wisdom and happiness that lie within yourself.
As the world around us fixates more on the superficial and temporary, the elders are concerned for the newer generations that are constantly and irreparably influenced and brainwashed by the various sources of media around them.
Infosys CEO ,Vishal Sikka expresses his anger and concern at the future of the younger generation when he says that people have lost focus on Math and Science and are more focused on who wins on their favorite reality T.V. shows.
Hence it is essential for us to use our better judgment and focus more on the things that need to change, grow spiritually and intellectually rather than waste away in front of hypnotizing display screens. Then maybe one day a sizeable number of Nobel laureates shall belong to our proud motherland.
