We as a society are obsessed with appearance. We get
caught with looks and forget the human behind that muscle, fat and skin mask.
We fail to look beyond the face and peep into the heart. There is a set of
artificial standards of beauty designed by the marketing agencies working for
body care products and we follow them, those who do not fit those standards are
subjected to “Body Shaming” It is a psychological abuse which is widely
prevalent.
It is irony that our society beauty and ugliness is
viewed based on the colour, shape and size of the body. A boy is expected to be
tall and muscular with a physique which makes him appear strong. While a girl has
to be thin, fair with zero acnes. If someone falls out of this criteria which most
of us are, we are constantly advised to improve our looks.
Media which caters to body care companies play a
significant role in stimulating the culture of body shaming, considering the
fake and near impossible beauty standards set over the years. The cosmetic industry
advertises as to how essential it is to have a fair skin to get a job or a life
partner. Added to it we have portals which recommend gels and pills to lose fat
within a few days.
By giving importance to these crackpots we have increased
body shaming that leads to inferiority complex and lowering confidence. A
mature person would look beyond skin and body. Agreed that we need to adopt healthy
lifestyle obesity is a problem, it is a risk to health and it is essential to
have a flexible body. A heavy built person can have a flexible body. I have
seen many who are fit but do not have enough stamina. Stamina is the strength
and energy that allows sustaining physical or mental effort for long periods of
time. Body Shaming is not new and the first ever revolt on it happened at the
court of Raja Janaka.
I remember a story of Sage Ashtavakra who acquired
his name when he was in his mother’s womb and overheard his father reciting the
Vedas which was wrongly pronounced and could not resist the temptation to
correct his father, Sage Kahoda. Enraged, his father cursed him to be born bent
in eight places (ashta vakra).
Nevertheless, he grew into a wise and enlightened
being. When he was 12 years old, Raja Janaka of Mitila hosted a huge debating
conference which Ashtavakra decided to attend. Because of his deformed body,
Ashtavakra attracted ridicule everywhere. It was no different at the court of Raja
Janaka, filled to the brim with learned scholars and revered sages.
As soon as he entered the court’s portals, he was
greeted with a loud peal of mocking laughter. The scholars and sages could not
help laughing at the sight of this young boy, so twisted and malformed.
Ashtavakra joined in the merriment and laughed along. Raja Janaka was
astonished. Beckoning him, he said, “I can understand why the others are
laughing, but why are you?”
With a look of immeasurable composure, Ashtavakra said,
“I laugh because I expected to see enlightened souls in your court, but I see
that they are nothing more than Chamars (Cobblers). They are not able to see
beyond the skin. All they see is my bent body and the skin covering it. In the
curve of this temple the Consciousness is not curved? When a pot is destroyed,
is the clay also destroyed? The Consciousness is beyond change. My body is
twisted, but Consciousness that lighten this curved body is not.”
A perfect slap on Body Shaming….!
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