What does real beauty mean to you? ~ IndiBlogger Contest

My dear readers,

This is the first time I am writing something for a contest on IndiBlogger. And the topic was so irresistible. Comments are welcome for the betterment of my writing as blogging has helped me express better with time. I hope you enjoy this post and if you like it, please vote for me HERE. Happy reading!!

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‘What does real beauty mean to you?’ After a long time, a very thought provoking question has awakened my dormant cerebral cells to churn out thoughts, meaningful thoughts that could help self find an answer! And I would thank Indi Blogger for having given such an amazing topic to write on, which was a respite from the old banal ideas to blog about! And so here goes my views on the topic.....................

Coming to our topic of substance, what defines beauty? As to each his own, it is a word of myriad connotations that carries a different definition for every individual. And they say, ‘beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder’, doesn’t it always? But before trying to figure out ‘what real beauty means to you’ or ‘what precisely defines beauty in your real world’, a plethora of choicest answers overpower the self even before the question is comprehended!

Perhaps, beauty is beheld in a poshy Spanish styled villa or a range rover that gives hedonistic pleasure of going on exotic road trips(or may be a Thunderbird, perhaps?). May be a well chiseled face with perfectly tanned features that seem to have undergone sophisticated beauty treatments at skin clinics to acquire a blemish free, supple skin at a price too high to quote, freshly manicure-ed hands and pedicure-ed feet with painted nails that seemingly define the perfect finger and toe tips and a well toned body that has undergone a series of diet plans besides a hard physical regimen to keep the curves intact define beauty for some. Or perhaps, beauty is about adorning self with the ‘perfect’ accessories like croc skin handbags, leather shoes, fancy hair clips, funky hair dos, mythical tattoos, Brighton bracelets or drop dead gorgeous necklines of some beguiling attire or may be the perfect suit made by the best tailors in the world? Or is it the gait of a person that attracts attention?.....

.....So much to cosset in a whirlwind of worldly beauties, or should I say, worldly indulgences? The list never ends, does it? And with a man made catalog of never ending materialistic pleasures, the self somewhere, fails to differentiate between indulgence and beauty, though self feels, as though it has been reveling in beauty all time! And the take keeps getting tougher and tougher! So, ‘what does beauty mean to you’, or ‘what does real beauty mean to you, in the real world?’.....

Like Helen Keller puts it, ‘The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart’. The statement rings true when the self fails to see the beauty and touch it, while it is all around. And only if the eyes could see more clearly, the ears could hear much better and the sense of joie de vivre prevails in the soul, there are such bewitching beauties in this world that unveil themselves often to be felt profoundly! Well, when I think of beauty, the scene unfolds with.....

The breaking dawn that leaves behind a golden streak across the dark skies;.....The milky tides of deep blue seas that erupt from distant horizon and unleash themselves on shore;.....Fresh dew that settle on thick foliage in the wee hours of morning;.....The slow yet conspicuous budding of the most beautiful flowers of enticing colors and shades in every season;.....A sapling germinating from its seed, all alive and kicking into a world ridden with uncertainties;.....The unfathomable innocence of a suckling calf;.....The profound awe-struck expression on a mother’s face when she holds her new born for the first time to look at a marvel, that unfolds steadily letting out a sharp cry that is sweetest to hear, with fingers curling into hers’ defining what is eternally divine;.....The first of all times when a baby learns to crawl, talk and walk;.....The adorable sight of a mother sparrow collecting worms and feeding her tiny wingless babies by putting food into their tiny beaks that gape wide open to gobble up all food in haste;.....A baby turtle that has just hatched out only to stagger towards the sea, taking its first baby steps towards its final destination;.....The unrequited love in the eyes of your pet, as it showers you with all licks and paws to make you realize that, you have a selfless friend in him until death;.....The majestic gait of a tiger in forests that adopts guerrilla technique to predate on its unsuspecting victims;.....The first cluster of those dark nimbus that cloak the sky, signifying the first torrential rain that wash away the heat and dust accumulated during hot Summers;.....The first rainbow that spreads across the horizon immediately after a heavy downpour, once the Sun shows up;.....The exquisite stalactites and stalagmites chiseled by the continuous flow of water inside caves;.....The transitioning of seasons and ripening of delectable fruits;.....The dignified manner in which the village belles start their day of hard work by milking cows and filling their pots of water from rivers;.....The most soothing bird music full of seamless chirping that marks the beginning and end of each new day..........and last but not the least, the majestic Sun sinking into the dark mystic sea, only to rise from it the very next day.....

.....Well, nature’s list of its beauties is timeless, seamless and boundless. Beauty would not be a word enough to explain the magnificence and splendor of nature at its best! The grandeur of nature surpasses man made beauties by infinite times over, each time making the self aware of a fact - ‘Life is full of beauty. Notice it.’ Each time, a bumble bee sucks nectar out of a flower, each time a baby proudly smiles when it looks at its mother, each time a spider tries to climb a wall irrespective of how slippery it is and no matter how many times it falls down only to rise up again and climb and an undying hope in every human being that things will eventually happen for good are some of the small but significant works of nature that explicate the meaning of beauty, the real beauty, beauty of life!

Many a time, when the self searches for something beautiful, it invariably ends up in showrooms, malls and restaurants that satiate its appetite for acquisitive delights, though not completely. But then, that is the nature of man! Isn’t it? But when it comes to real beauty, the context is almost missed, missed by lack of sight, lack of sense and lack of self reckoning. Perhaps, real beauty is a mystical presence that makes the self aware of its existence only when the self wakes up with an irrepressible urge to explore what's around! As quoted by the famous philosopher of all times,

‘Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it!’ ~ Confucius