Inner beauty is real beauty

IT WAS a sultry weekday afternoon 31 years ago when I met the most beautiful woman in the world.

I cannot remember exactly what day of the week it was. I do know it was a few days after Saturday November 19, 1994, when a 21-year-old Aishwarya Rai beat 86 contestants to win the Miss World title at a glittering pageant at Sun City.

A few days after the contest, Sun International, the event’s main sponsor, hosted the newly-crowned Miss World at a photoshoot at the Wild Coast Sun Resort which three decades ago was my stamping ground. As a journalist on the Sunday Tribune at that time, I was assigned the task of interviewing Aishwarya, not that I complained.

With photographer Puri Devjee capturing the striking and classically beautiful features of this epitome of elegance on his trusted Nikon F2, I jot down her responses to my questions. For all of 30 minutes, I admired those large eyes, arched eyebrows, flawless skin, low hairline, full lips and exceptionally large and captivating blue-green eyes. Markedly absent in her pleasant and melodious voice was an Indian accent. 

While I will always remember how mesmerised I was by Aishwarya’s natural beauty, even more etched in my memory forever will be her answer to one of the many questions that I posed. I asked her if, like many other beauty queens such as Zeenat Aman, Meenakshi Seshadri, Juhi Chawla and Sushmita Sen, she too would use the Miss World crown as a winning ticket to Bollywood. Without batting an eyelid, she said: “No, I don’t think I would.”

She told me with a straight look that she was still bent on becoming an architect for which career she had studied. She made it clear that while many modelling opportunities had come her way, and which she took, she did not envisage using the Miss World title to propel her as an actress before movie cameras. I believed her.

My article, based on the interview I had with her, stressed that Aishwarya would not go into acting. Not long thereafter, however, Aishwarya began signing up for one movie after another. Then came the Tamil movie Jeans which saw Aishwarya's character Madhumita donning different royal avatars, bringing together history, fashion, and cinematic flair. AR Rahman’s song Poovukul featured scenes with seven famous buildings, dubbing Aishwarya as the eighth wonder of the world. With her role in Jeans, Ash had carved a name for herself on the silver screen.

Of course Aishwarya (now married to Abhishek Bachchan) had not been deliberately untruthful when she told me she had no Bollywood plans. The pressure - and lucrative money offers - must have piled up when she had completed her one-year reign as Miss World at the end of 1995.

Don’t forget that long before Aishwarya, other stunning Indian women such as Waheeda Rahman, Hema Malini, Sridevi, Sharmila Tagore, Dimple Kapadia and Saira Banu had made their mark as the goddesses worshipped by moviegoers. So why shouldn’t Aishwarya put her beauty, youth, success as a model and dancing skills to better use as an actress rather than slog over an architect’s drawing board? Following Aishwarya’s entry into movies, many other winners of beauty contests have since become leading movie stars.

My interest in the timeless beauty of Indian women was piqued when I read A Princess Remembers: The Memoirs of the Maharani of Jaipur. Maharani Gayatri Devi  was the last - and most beautiful - of a dying breed. She was famous both for her classic beauty and her sartorial choices which were always elegant. She smoked cigarettes in social settings and also enjoyed a peg or two of whiskey. In her lifetime, Gayatri Devi (she died on July 29, 2009, the same day as my mother who was also beautiful in looks and nature) became something of a fashion icon and had been counted among “The Ten Most Beautiful Women of the World”.

There's no doubt about Indian women being pulchritudinous. Even though the word looks (and sounds) like it would describe a disease or a bad attitude that leaves a sour taste (puḷippu means “sour” in Tamil), “pulchritudinous” actually describes a person of breathtaking, heartbreaking beauty.

Actress Deepika Padukone’s recent recognition as the ninth most beautiful woman in the world underscores her remarkable presence and influence, both in India and on the global stage. This accolade was derived from the Golden Ratio analysis, which serves as a guideline for measuring attractiveness based on the proportions of facial features, including the distance between the eyes, the width of the nose, and the length of the face.

India and Venezuela share the spotlight for winning the most Miss World titles – six times. Indian winners like Reita Faria Powell, Aishwarya Rai, Diana Hayden, Yukta Mookhey, Priyanka Chopra, and Manushi Chhillar have not only captivated with their beauty but have also made significant contributions through charity and advocacy. The UK has earned five Miss World titles and South Africa three. In 1994 and 2000, Indian beauties won both Miss World and Miss Universe crowns in the same year.

The German philosopher Hegel (1770 – 1831) didn’t have a high opinion of Indians. He even claimed that the character of Indians is “cunning and deceitful and that moral and human dignity are missing”. The chap had never set foot in India. Yet he was effusing in his praise for the “unearthly beauty” of Indian women - “their face is covered with pure skin, with a slight, lovely blush, which is not just like the blush of health and vitality, but a finer blush, like a spiritual touch from within”. 

How is it that from 1994 until 2000, India won four Miss World titles? One theory is that in 1991, under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, India opened its economy, and the buzz about the beauty pageants was used to make Indians buy beauty products. Western companies benefited from a huge market. The focus was now on make-up.

But not all Indian women depend on western-inspired cosmetics. The women from the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Kerala, ooze beauty and a radiant glow because of the turmeric that they use liberally. Turmeric (manja or haldi) is considered one of the most crucial skin whitening ingredients in ayurvedic preparations and is known to reduce dark patches and even out the skin tone. Not for nothing then the aunties will plaster a bride’s face with turmeric at the pre-wedding jol, while the uncles get themselves plastered some other way.

I recall that until a few years ago, local women would undergo a weekly ritual of applying a few cents worth of natural turmeric, giving them an instant facelift that lasted for days. Sadly not anymore. Today they choose to use cleansers, moisturisers, and treatments from leading beauty brands like Almay, Bioderma, Clinique and Vichy which cost thousands of rands - and which to my eyes make little difference to their looks.

I personally consider Kashmiri women to be the most beautiful in India. They have an English rosiness of complexion behind the Eastern tan.

Finally, I must warn against the use of chemicals for lightening of the skin. In a world where beauty standards are often defined by social media trends and celebrity endorsements, the colour of your skin can sometimes feel like a determinant of self-esteem and confidence. Wrongly, lighter skin has historically been associated with beauty.

Though effective in reducing pigmentation, there is a risk to the glow. Prolonged use of bleaches, corticosteroids and mercury-based creams can cause serious side effects such a disfiguring blue-black pigmentation that is irreversible. To hide imperfections, a thick layer of foundation must be applied – like Polyfilla on walls.

Altering your natural skin tone should never come at the cost of your health. And, yes, darker skin with its rich melanin content, which is a source of natural radiance and strength, is also beautiful.

Finally, remember that inner beauty is real beauty. More than looks, qualities such as kindness, compassion, integrity and humanity, make up one’s true beauty.

Yogin Devan is a media consultant and social commentator. Share your comments with him on: [email protected]

** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media. 

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