Is beauty just skin deep?

"How will I fare in a popularity contest in IIT?” asked one of my friends, who is, by far, the most gorgeous female I have ever come across. I had absolutely no reply to her inquiry because I knew that she would win the contest by a long distance. Such is the influence of nifty faces in this materialistic world. It's not that she interacts with every person in IIT but, it is the shine on the face that attracts the people around. After all, who doesn't want to see a good face!

I was going through one of the forwarded emails the other day that compared Sania Mirza, the latest tennis sensation and Koneru Humpy. Are you wondering who Humpy is? If yes, then please note that she is the present world number 2 player in international women's chess arena and more importantly, she is among the very few Indian women who represent India on international sports platform. The article talked about Sania being every youngster's dream girl and how curiously people wanted to know about her favorite cuisine, music and color and the words printed on her T-shirt while Humpy, with mediocre looks, being an unknown name despite achieving similar, if not greater success than Sania. The same story fits other fields as well. Despite having nominal acting capabilities, Angelina Jolie continues to find herself among the highest paid actresses. People with good looks always attract limelight.

It is true that looks is the first aspect one considers during the first meet with a person. People tend to make assumptions about the behavior and thinking of the people on the basis of their very first look. And thus, the face contributes to one's first impression. Even the word personality consists of the word persona which, in Latin, means mask. Though, strictly speaking, according to psychology, personality is a collection of emotion, looks, thought and behavior patterns unique to a person.

Researchers have come up with theories such as Halo effect revealing that attractive people tend to be more intelligent, better adjusted, and more popular. Yes, I know that not many people would be convinced by this theory but that's the story narrated by the research guys. Even the people related with psychology of beauty believe that good looking people achieve more occupational success than their not-so-attractive counterparts.

The phrase "Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder" is losing its significance in this era. It's pity that we constitute a society which lays high emphasis on physical appearances of people. And thanks to media and audience, this theory doesn't look like taking a U-turn. After all, no one wants to see baleful faces in TV commercials. Moreover, media has corroborated that attractive faces sell. This is why companies manufacturing cosmetics are big hits in the field of business. Every time you visit a parlor, you will always find people suggesting bleach or a hair color or a facial to improve your looks. And the worst part is that more often than not, we start caring their words and fall prey to their ideas.

But, is this world so unfair to moderate-looking-people? No!!! Certainly not. There are few luxuries which good looking people enjoy but at the end of the day, it is the way people carry themselves that counts. Looks can often be misleading. And assumptions made on the basis of looks may go wrong. One might be the most pleasing face on the planet, but if he/she doesn't have a clean heart and a fair soul, that look won't transmit him/her to the ultimate goal of life. What do you say?