”I have never seen a smiling face that was not beautiful’, is an oft heard remark. A face is given to you by the good lord. Well, you never really had anything to do with it. It carries, within its few inches, the traits, features and expressions of your ancestors, etched out clearly. Your nose may proclaim your Greek lineage and your forehead your sociological caste; Your determined chin may give away your Roman beginnings and the slant of your eyebrow your Turkish genes! Since we never had much say, in the house we were born into. Similarly, we never chose our faces. The little tell – tale mirror, that gives out our inner most secrets to the on-lookers. The frown lines that speak of troubles and travails; of nights you have lain awake, yearning for something. The blood shot eyes, that would have been dreamy, if they were not gazing fixedly, at some already dead, dead-line! The sunken cheeks that tell sagas of emaciation and want; the smile lines that show a jovial, cheerful, disposition; the jowly chin folds that are remnants of debauchery. A face is a visiting card, your own personalized trade mark, your unique memory bank. It remains etched in people’s memories, if it is striking!
The penetrating, bewitching, all seeing, x-ray gaze that can see right into your soul. The face people remember, the name might get lost, under the reams of files, tossed haphazardly in our overused brains!! ”maine tumhe pehle bhi kahin dekha hai”, is not merely, a cheesy pick-up line. It could be true. Your soul antennae crackle and buzz, when you meet a soul mate on life’s high seas. There is a pin drop silence in the recesses of your heart, while you wait to get back the breath that was knocked out of your innermost being. Who faces the brunt of these onslaughts? The faces of course! The punching bag of emotions, of hate, greed, covetousness, jealousy, pining, anger, disdain, or pure unadulterated love. It is all there, in the open pages of your face, the ”vibheeshan”, of your world. The face that could launch a thousand ships, or acquire a million followers, is much more than its genetic features. It is a blueprint of a life lived, in its many splendored hues. Some silvery as ‘poornima’ (Full moon night), others dark as ”amaavasya” (moonless night). Some people, never lose their beauty, however old they get. They merely move it from their faces into their hearts! A sleeping beauty might evoke love, because of her innocent, childlike vulnerability, but the rumbling, bumbling grandma’s wide grin, that radiates across her benign face, is just as mesmerizing. The power of a silver framed face is as mighty as a ”chaand si mehbooba ho meri, kab aisa maine socha thha.” ”main nigaahein tere chehre se hataaoon kaise, lut gaye hosh toh phir hosh mein aaoon kaise” ; ”mere chehre pe ghazal kehti gayin, sher kehti hui aankhen usski”
Lily Swarn’s Book” A Bejewelled Tiara” on Love and Peace published by Authors Press is available on Amazon. Lily Swarn can be reached at sukhish83@gmail.com
