By Tanaya Singh:
Attractive, appealing, pretty, exquisite, gorgeous, glorious, glamorous etc. Key in the word “beautiful” on the thesaurus and you’ll dig out even more than thirty similar words for it. When was the last time you used this word to describe something? Earlier, every pretty face in a theatre act or drama was beautiful….But today, we have numerous alternatives. A girl can be cute, smart, attractive, sexy, blonde, brunette, fair, fragile, lovely, good-looking and stunning. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with that…it’s always good to have a few extra words to complement charm. All I am trying to put in here is that, the beauty of the word “beautiful” is a lot more eminent than all others. When you say that something or somebody is beautiful, you make the thing or the person feel it. By doing so, you give that flavour of pride which makes you say the perfect and appropriate word. There are just two comparable things here; the intensity with which you say the word and the manifestation of a happy spark in the receiver’s heart…. Both of these have the very same hues and feelings attached with it.
As all of us know, “Endangered” or “about to be extinct” animals are already giving a lot of worries and taking up a lot of thoughts from each one of us. So let us not allow a word to get lost and be extinct. Obsolete machines or weapons or fashion or maybe obsolete technology can sound digestible. But putting a word in the obsolete criteria really hurts, especially when it is a word that can do wonders for everybody.
So, let me tell you the last time when I actually felt the need to say “beautiful”. Trust me, when I talk about feeling the need, I mean it. It was instant and spontaneous when I realised how important this word is. It is not a long narration or some pepped up story. It’s just a feeling that has an urgency of being expressed. Read on, and if you feel the world is really beautiful, then tell me your story; about the time when you ran into beauty….
The gaiety of Saturday air could be felt everywhere around me. I was having a wonderful time at a shopping mall in Delhi. With no money and practically all windows shopped….I was left with lots of time and no work in hand. So it was obvious that I had to sit and kill time which is an amazing talent in itself. I consider myself talented, proficient and skilled in this field. While sitting in there waiting for a friend, I was eating and not looking at anything in particular when a child’s eyes caught my attention. He had a wide bright smile as he came running towards a lady watching him with exactly the same gleam and excitement on her face. The happiness in those eyes was contagious. It made me smile with them. Following the kid was a man, probably his dad. He was around 35, short, dark haired and good looking. Carrying a few shopping bags, he was coming towards his wife with an expression of genuine solace. But his walk was not normal. He had a significant limp and a sign of physical disability. They stood there for some time, shared a chocolate, listened to the kid and saw him take a few rounds while he ran to and fro making them feel good and joyous. There was something different in this picture. It was obvious but invisible. I tried to figure it out, but their smiles made everything else seem less important. And then just as I was about to get up and leave; the child tripped and fell down. I felt the rush to run up to him when I saw worry sweeping over the radiance on his parents’ face in just a truce. Their shopping bags fell right out of their hands and they moved forward to reach him. As they walked, I found myself frozen and blank. The thing I had not noticed till now flashed loud and clear. That lady before me, who loved her child like every other mother, who was proud of her whole and happy family, who had love and care brimming out of her blue eyes and dreams etched over her forehead….had a single arm. It was just one hand that supported her husband and helped him. The first thought that came to my mind was her walking slowly just to walk with him, but to my notice I saw that she had a hitch in her walk just like him. They reached their son and hugged him tight. An hour later I saw them moving out, twinkly and tired; the child hopping his way out in front of them. And that’s the moment, the instant when I heard myself say “beautiful”. I had been saying the word for ages, but I had never felt it before. That’s what I was talking about….
I won’t say that you make me whole,
Or show you the brilliance of your role.
I don’t think it’s easy to deal….
I can’t give you reasons for everything I feel.
If they want to give a name to this,
Just let the silence speak….
And they’ll realise it when they see,
That when you are here, I am just “ME”…