The effects of a video that I just watched.

Last week, I was out at a concert with a couple of friends at one of the "happening" places in town. The band was going to be playing songs by Dire Straits and boy oh boy, I was thrilled. Yes, for a minute it did cross my mind that I was in jeans and a simple T shirt with my potli but it didn't matter at all. I was only looking forward to the music. When we entered, all around me I could see women with poker straight hair, make up, strappy tops, next to nothing shorts and size zero figures. A close friend (who isn't from my city) joined us later. Her question to me, after looking at the others present, was "Why are all the women here so skinny and hot?" I looked at her, laughed and said "Well, that's tons of make up, hours in the parlour and avoiding fun food. But in the end, I won't remember a single face because they all look the same." And overhearing a couple of "hot" girls say - Oh! We should leave. They're playing some POP music here - pretty much sealed it for me. With my presentable appearance, I'm glad I knew the difference between rock 'n' roll and Pop music.

On the way back home, the friend and I were talking about men and the way they think. Let me add here that the girl is strikingly attractive. So a common problem that she faces is that whenever she meets a guy, most of the time it becomes only about how pretty she is. They don't make the effort to have a real conversation with her or make an attempt to get to know her as a person. She's a quirky, interesting, fun, well read, well travelled smart girl but none of that seems to matter to them. All they want to do is flirt around with her. Listening to her, I couldn't help being thankful for all that I have and don't have.

The world is always a little kinder to those who are good looking in the conventional sense. While growing up, I had a huge problem with this. Always wishing for my eyes to grow a little bigger, nose a little smaller, teeth a little straighter, dimple a little deeper. Looking back I wonder what all I would have wanted to change once I was "improved" upon. Of course, as the years went by, I realised that there was so much more to live for and experience than the way we looked. And the world? Stopped caring about it long ago :)

The video was powerful. Parts of it made me want to barf - How images get grounded in reality, how peer pressure can have damaging effects, how children are entering the "adult" world much before their time, how voyeurism exists all around, how the internet now controls everything... Whatever happened to acting silly, running around parks, eating mud, bringing a little puppy from the street home, picnics and cotton candy? Innocence? And at a more experienced level, have notions of love, care, fidelity, beauty disappeared or are they so distorted that we fail to understand what we really want?

Somewhere deep inside, I'll always be grateful to my folks for letting me climb trees, beat up boys, find solace in music, books and art and never once pointing out that I needed to "behave like a girl". Grateful for giving me a pressure free childhood that I fondly remember. It reflects in what I am today.

P.S. For anyone interested, you can watch the video here