On reminiscing about days gone by, we can envisage a time, several centuries ago, when the world was truly beautiful and distinctly, a better place to live in, compared to the contemporary day and age where pandemonium reigns supreme. We can see, in our mind’s eye, our Earth as being a haven – a veritable sanctuary of peace, safety, harmony, unity and brotherhood. We can imagine vast tracts of forest land; green, lush fields; flowers blooming in all their magnificence; ripe, luscious, sweet fruit and endless rolling meadows where cattle would graze peacefully and happily. The skies must have been the gorgeous colour of azure-blue; a variety of rare birds must have chirped from the branches of innumerable, exuberant, green-leaved trees. Hardly a cloud in the sky – literally and figuratively. It must have been such a calm, gorgeous and carefree world!

It was an era when all manner of living things thrived. At that time, people were truly able to understand and experience the beauty of good health, happiness, and peace of mind, in its truest, undiluted form. Those were the days!

When the dawn must have broken each morning, the rising sun would have promised, yet another, glorious day. A day with the usual daily chores, no doubt, but the biggest difference was that it was a world of enduring tranquillity, where troubles undoubtedly existed but were fewer in number. Worries, difficulties and stress did exist, but, again, not so frequently as the present day.

It was, by no means, a time that was free from all manner of sin, vices, and crime, but these incidences were few and far between. Those were indeed the Golden Days – a forgotten era where people were essentially happy because they had learned, long ago, the art of contentment. Their wants and desires were few and these people of yore were content to remain in their own company. They must have preferred to be alone, rather than associate with the wrong crowd – such was that era. This whole description might be reminiscent of a Utopian World but there is no doubt, that several aeons ago, such an idealic time did exist.

There was a time when Beauty had a true meaning – it went far beyond the glamour, sensuality and seductiveness of physical attractiveness. The latter form of beauty is basically transient and momentary, and the act of aging is always cruel. No amount of artificial body sculpting and innumerable plastic surgeries can hide, for long, the inevitable wrinkled neck and aging hands, the greying hair, and the unavoidable stooped posture. That is the time when one truly realises that physical beauty is as fleeting as the blowing wind and that this kind of fading, short-lived beauty is essentially only skin deep. It is fickle, temporary, and lacks any true meaning or value.

Some people bring out the best in ourselves, while others provoke the ugliness that inhabits within each of our souls. A beautiful person may not have physical elegance and allurement, but the very goodness of their souls shines out, like an aura of widespread light and brilliance, and reflects onto the opposite party, creating concentric waves of goodness and benevolence. This reflection of goodness creates the effect of a boomerang – what goes out, invariably finds its way back to us. That is the true essence of Beauty. We need to be beautiful ourselves so that other people automatically react likewise.

There was a time when the world was a beautiful place because of the basic goodness and benevolence of its inhabitants. There was a time when people knew the true meaning of love, kindness, compassion, respect, selflessness, politeness, humility, loyalty, honesty, and integrity. Luminaries of high standing stood out for their philanthropic and charitable work in days gone by – their names are still remembered today. The youth of yore were taught to respect and care for their family members, friends and their elders; they were taught to respect each other and knew – as a matter of course – that they had to adhere to the rules and norms of society. Law-abiding citizens call for a safe, beautiful world to live in,

Most people were largely God-fearing in those days, not necessarily religious but more spiritual-minded – they towed the line and tread the straight and narrow path, with care, because they realised that they would, one fine day, be accountable for all their thoughts, words, and deeds (or lack thereof) to a Higher Authority – this inherent belief is essentially what made them beautiful people. People were taught that there is no such thing as total freedom – there are limits to everything. They knew that if they dared to do whatever they fancied doing, there would be bitter and severe consequences for such actions. This inbuilt fear of accountability taught most people to be law-abiding citizens.

There will always be exceptions to the rule, but the world has certainly seen better days – a time when it was truly beautiful. There was a certain purity and undiluted glory to those bygone days – nowadays, this morality and untaintedness has melted away gradually, till there is barely the faintest memory left of it. There used to be a mix of the Good with the Bad; but the Good far outweighed the Ugliness, that was the beauty of it.

As the case stands currently, we can state, with absolute certainty, that nothing much has changed since the beginning of time, when only the mythical Adam and Eve inhabited the Earth. The world is in a state of utter chaos because we have forgotten what true beauty and happiness is. As scientific advances are made, the wants and desires of humanity has increased tenfold. The simplest joys of life no longer bring us happiness. We are all so busy wanting more and more that, literally, we have no time to stand and stare at the beauty surrounding us. Craving for more and more leaves us feeling unhappy, distinctly restless, frustrated and constantly dissatisfied. We take so much for granted – just because it is there for the taking. It has made us brazenly ungrateful for so much that Life has to offer us – gratis. Wanting things all the time leaves no space for the act of giving and sharing. If we must extend our arm let it be to give, rarely to take. Blessed is the person who gives away much more than he/she ever takes. The goodness that you give out to others will invariably find its way back to you – what goes around, comes around. Life is an Echo; what we put out is what comes back, to bless or haunt us, depending on the nature of our actions. Do good and good will come back to you – it is as simple as that. This is the essence of true Beauty – it’s constantly evolving as per what we give out to the world.

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So, what is Beauty? Of course, all of us know what beauty is – or at least, we think we know what it is, to be perfectly clear.

Beauty is defined as a pleasing sight that appeals to one’s aesthetic sense. How one person defines a beautiful person can differ completely from another person’s perspective. Different people have different points of view of what constitutes a beautiful person based on their own personal choices – a lot of these opinions are based on family values, myths, education, environmental factors, cultural and societal norms, stereotypes, etc.

Let us not discount the impact of Racism on these views and beliefs -for example, a fair skin is viewed as being exceptionally beautiful by the Western World, in general; however, that does not imply, in any way, that a dark skin is any less alluring. So many factors determine these points of view that sadly, a vast majority of people have forgotten what Beauty in its truest form really ought to be.

We are living in a world of utter turmoil and absolute bedlam. Most of humanity has forgotten that they need to be true to themselves and their own beliefs – not to be what other people want to see them as being. The issue here is that people are so caught up in the peer pressure of the group culture that they even go so far as to change their whole character, opinions, beliefs, and personality to suit the ulterior motives and hidden needs of the “crowd” that they move around in.

People should look towards “standing out,” – instead, most of them do everything possible “to fit in” with the trend of things. That causes total disillusionment, absolute dissatisfaction with oneself and ultimately, it leads to an all-encompassing unhappiness. This seething frustration grows from a gentle simmer to a roaring boil, and it causes such individuals to lash out and to act in ways that are totally contrary to what their true, inner personality and character is. Adhering to a toxic group culture can have vast and adverse effects on our well-being and peace of mind. One finds oneself perpetually in a state of undue stress – trying desperately to become someone that we fundamentally are not. Do not fall into this trap!

Why would anyone want to become superficial and fickle minded just to please societal whims and fancies, that are fleeting, in any case? Have we forgotten what self-respect means? Frankly, who cares if society accepts us the way we are, or not? Each one of us inhabits our own body, not society – we are capable of making our own choices. We are capable of rational thought processes; we have a brain and mind of our own. We are able to make our own decisions and life choices. Why should we allow anyone else to do that for us? They do not pay our bills. Nobody can force us to do anything that we do not want to do – unless, of course, it’s at gunpoint at the hands of a raving psychopath, then I rest my case. Be smart, in such a scenario. You do not want to get a tax-free and premature, one-way ticket to meet your Maker, I am sure.

Beauty is about standing firm in our own beliefs – even if it means standing alone. Forever be true to yourself because our so-called “friends” will be there today, but will have disappeared tomorrow, at the first sign of trouble. The Rich and the Famous (The Bold and the Beautiful) have perpetual throngs of fawning people surrounding them, like a group of hungry, skulking vultures, flattering these rich individuals needlessly, behaving like a bunch of deplorable sycophants. The day that this flaunted, excessive money and wealth fades away into nothingness, these “preying vultures” melt away automatically, dissolving miraculously into thin air. Just like transient ships in the night, visible on the horizon for a brief period before vanishing from sight completely. These people are not “our friends” in the strict sense of the word, they are just acquaintances – the latter will do anything for a few ‘freebies’ that life throws their way. They think that it’s the “in-thing” to be part of the “in-crowd” – least realising that the very people who they regularly associate themselves with, are the people who they will ultimately become like – even though they might not have initially been that way.

So, what is this “in-crowd?” Essentially, a brash, loud, crude, arrogant, self-absorbed, ostentatious, gaudily dressed, superfluous lot – “the nouveau riche,” mostly, if you must label them. Flighty and capricious to the extreme – quite obviously so, in fact. These are “newly wealthy” people who literally throw their money around – such individuals attract a host of ‘hangers on’ – the latter being akin to preying leeches and parasites gorging the life out of the host party. It’s no wonder that the world is in such a state of disarray and mayhem then, isn’t it?

In a very broad sense, people who hang around rich folk are invariably ulterior motivated – they are forever looking to gain from what the rich person has to offer them; grovelling shamelessly like a bunch of beggars for the scraps thrown their way – they are a fickle-minded lot, just like the superficial crowd they move around with. Each one is like a fly attracted to the light at night. This is what most people are – or have become- by virtue of the regular company that they keep. This is their convoluted definition of being beautiful. But is it really being beautiful? Think about it.

We are living in a world riddled with endless scams where unscrupulous people will stoop to any lengths to get what they want. What is this world that we live in? Vices have replaced virtues. Our planet has become a scary and horrific place to live in, where undue bloodshed, heinous crime, vicious cruelty, violence, war, greed, lust, egoism, narcissism, false pride, dishonesty, vindictiveness, disrespect, callousness, and absolute selfishness is rampant and widespread. Where has the beauty gone? Was it ever there, in the first place? Can we even recall such a time when we lived and breathed in the goodness around us? Most of us sadly cannot. Our lives have become as ugly, as it was once a many splendored thing of endless beauty. Who shall then take the blame? Nobody but ourselves. It is about time that we started taking responsibility for our own misdeeds. Accountability and maturity should be here to stay – for good.

The repulsiveness of our hideous world will forever rear its unseemly head, until such time as we all – collectively – make correct life choices and adhere to becoming better people, with consistent discipline. Till then, the eternal quest for enduring beauty and an all-encompassing goodness will remain, for us all, a distant dream.

It need not be a distant dream though – it could become our reality. Our choices and decisions will make it so. Discipline to abide by these choices will make it so.

This author has already made up her mind about what to do (or not to do) in this matter – but have you? Just think about it. We should not be arrogant and expect the world to change for us; change is something that ought to come from within ourselves. Let us not forget it. Let us actively do something about it. In the meanwhile, Time and tide will wait for no man. Time is slowly – but surely – slipping away. Do not postpone to tomorrow, what can be done today.

Let my writing not be in vain, is all I can say.

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P.S. I have enclosed some of the most popular teachings of Lord Buddha in this post – simply because His sayings are simple and easily comprehensible by everyone. I find these quotes to be extremely relevant to the current topic. We can all learn a lot from them.

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