We have all heard the old adage ‘Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder’ and that is one of the truest facts there is. What one person sees as beauty can be an eyesore for another and vice versa. Appreciating beauty is highly subjective, that is, each individual’s appreciation will definitely differ, be it in terms of quality and quantity. This piece is definitely not about the simple intricacies of beauty. It’s more about the beauty that lies in that which is different, that which is special and yes that which is unique.
In the world of today, all we see is hordes of people trying to fit in. In doing so, they let go of what makes them individual and hence special. We need to delicately understand this very fragile topic. We have been brought up to believe such lines as ‘majority wins’, ‘go with the flow’, ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’ and many such one liners that have highlighted the collective whole rather than the individual. In such a mentality, it is extremely difficult to do justice to the one thing that brings variety into the world. ‘Uniqueness' is defined as the embodiment of unique characteristics; the only specimen of a given kind. Variety is after all the spice of life.
Thinking out of the box and creating new things is venerated at times, the said times being the end, when the theory has been tried and tested. However, we tend to look down upon and try to stay away from those with a different way of looking at things. Any sort of individual thinking, any sort of uniqueness is looked upon as a threat. Why? Because anything new and different is considered beyond the normal and thus looked at with fear. Each one of us are made completely different. From the way we look to the way we talk and behave. And it is these differences that make living in this world exciting and worthwhile.
It is indeed disheartening that even with the advances we have made in every field, our minds remain closed to the fact that the existence of things and people that differ slightly from the so called norm is actually not only great but highly necessary. From the years gone by to date, we have found every opportunity to differentiate and marginalise based on differences. The greatest evils come from being stereotypical. We are caught in a habitual web of judgement. Judging people based on their colour, looks, intellectual ability, beliefs, caste, creed and sexuality is not something that used to happen. It’s still rampant and sadly one of the evils that is killing our country and eating it away at its seams. We are constantly sectioning the population of this great land based on flimsy and unimportant criteria. At one time, our country was taken and divided by an external force, using the religious difference as an excuse. Today we are internally tearing apart the very fabric of this nation based on differences that actually work to our advantage. What would it be like without the diversity that make us who we collectively are? What if we all looked, spoke and behaved the same? What if all of us chose the same profession, had the same jobs, made the same income and did the very same thing? Would all our needs be fulfilled? Not likely. In fact a society like that would never get past a day.
We are all individually working cogs of a machine whose differences actually work to the advantage of the collective. We make fun of the outliers, ridicule them and cause hurt not because we are egoists but because we lack understanding. It is high time we educate ourselves enough to appreciate what is truly important. Right from a young age, teaching our children to be accepting would cause a ripple effect. Being great role models will give our children a yardstick against which they can measure their own abilities. We all need to understand the difference before passing judgement. Inclusive schools admit children of various abilities and help them learn alongside the so called ‘normal’ children. As parents, choosing a school that opens its doors is one of the biggest steps you can take to help your child learn tolerance and you accepting the various joys as well as obstacles that come with having a mixed bag of children learning together will enhance their learning. We all have our own unique abilities and beauty that makes us who we are and we all crave to be appreciated for those unique gifts. The whole matter revolves around understanding just how well our differences make life all the more beautiful. Accepting every individual completely is where we all begin to appreciate the unique beauty that is prevalent in every being. Open your eyes and the heart will follow.
