A recent alert on fake faces and false narratives in this newspaper went, ‘If an image evokes extreme emotions and terrifies you, it is likely to be fake. Do a quick check on the internet to verify it before believing it.’ It was a piece of advice that set me thinking about the human face and its significance. Think of anyone you know and you are forced to think of his or her face.
Whether you are looking at an album of pictures, watching a gathering of people or just staring at a gallery of rogues, the mind focuses on the face. In your consideration, the arms are invisible and the legs irrelevant. Remember how the fugitive, Nirav Modi, indulged in a facial make-over in order to elude the authorities?
‘My face is my fortune’ says a girl in an old song but the words still carry relevance today. When a baby is born, the parents’ foremost anxiety is its health, but close on its heels comes the concern about its looks. This is because human nature responds favourably to a beautiful child, but is lukewarm in its attitude towards an unattractive one.
From time immemorial, the world has loved its beautiful people. Studies have shown that even infants are drawn towards those with smooth skins and big eyes. As Pierce Brosnan once observed, those who are stylish and handsome get better jobs. Beauty contests are watched avidly and people, both men and women, go to absurd lengths to preserve or better their looks.
Fortunately, outer and perceived perfection is only a small part of the facial story, for the face has proved itself the index of the mind. Recall an occasion when you were on the lookout for a loved one in a dense crowd. You spotted the face and what a joy it was to have seen it! The face is the easiest and surest way to identify a person. It is also our window to the world since it holds the vital senses of sight, hearing, smell and taste. It is a powerful vehicle for expression as well.
No face remains the same as the passing years inevitably leave their mark on it. As poet John Keats has said, ‘Beauty cannot keep its lustrous eyes.’ However, it is replaced by a beauty available to us all. It is the beauty of character and kindness.
Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln and Mother Teresa are memorable examples. None of them was attractive in youth. Gandhiji was called ‘Mickey Mouse’ by Sarojini Naidu, Lincoln was described by a biographer as ‘so gangly and gawky-looking, that he was teased unmercifully by young girls' and Mother Teresa probably never looked into a mirror.
Yet, such was their force of personality that they have earned for themselves the admiration of people the world over and a permanent place in history. Their message comes across clear and loud — be strong, be compassionate, it adds immensely to your face-value!