Real Beauty

Mountains, trees, rivers, the sea
Oceans, rivulets, birds
clouds, the majesty of nature
the tiny perfection of a puppy,
a kitten, a baby,
flowers.

The scars I bear,
of not just the babies I bore
but the other surgeries I had,
those scars affirm Life.
The years added to my life
enhance my soul,
the scars are an integral
part of me now.

My aunt is no more
but I remember her smile,
slightly down turned on one side
from a paralytic attack
Her hair combed into "cat ears"
over her forehead,
in her own particular style.
She was beautiful to me.
I never saw her upset,
(well, only once in all those years)
or lose her temper
She was wise, and kind
and strong,
Looked up to by all.
The menfolk in her family,
Husband and sons
Would do her bidding gladly
Because she always
made sense to them.

(The story goes that
She was so lovely
that once he saw her
in their neighbourhood
the young man decided
to marry only her, and
no one else.
It was a long and happy union
A template for many to come.
He outlived her by some fourteen years
sustained by the memories
of their life together,
with a strength and grace of his own).

She wore her saree
the old fashioned 'seedha palla' style,
and was so disciplined herself
you would never dream
of not being so around her.
A natural teacher
you'd learn from her
whether you really
wanted to or not!!!!

Even when she was ill
with breast cancer
she never lost her perspective
or her sense of humour.
The last time I met her,
some months before she died,
She'd been making small
quantities of different pickles
revising for her next birth, she said.
I said, surely your mother
will teach you, in your next birth.
No, she will wear jeans and
work in an office,
I'd better practice
my recipes myself!


I've known so many people in these
many decades of my life
Who are so good looking,
the eyes perforce
linger on their faces
but when I think of real beauty,
it is this aunt who first comes to my mind.

The above blog post is part of a competition hosted by Dove, Yahoo!India, and IndiBlogger.