Real Beauty

Everyone’s talking about Real Beauty – the beauty of a kind heart, of a generous nature, of grandmother’s love, of a helpful soul.
All of a sudden, there is an outburst of deep and mature people on this planet who seem to have understood that beauty is only skin deep.
When all are so enlightened, why is it that fairness cream, anti aging cream, plastic surgery and Botox injections are pouring into the markets like never before?

I am sure, even as people wrote articles about real beauty for this contest by yahoo, they had some fairness cream or some other make up on them : - )

Such is the time in which we are living; a time of strange juxtapositions.

Order burger with extra cheese. And a diet coke.
Take an escalator. To the gym.
Trek to the mountains to detoxify. And smoke marijuana there.
Wear nose stud in a swim suit contest. To represent Indian culture.
Spend millions for a beauty contest to select Miss Earth. Who will then protect the environment.

Enough of the satire.
For all my sarcasm, I am glad so many people are thinking about Real beauty. I just hope their thinking results in some meaningful action too… that the sales of cosmetics will dip and some of them will close shops.

Since too much has been said about ‘true beauty’, ‘beauty beyond the skin’, for a change I will write about beauty of the skin. Why not? That’s also beauty, though at the skin level. And skin has come to matter today like never before. Isn’t it?

No metaphor. No symbolism. I will simply share with you a few tips to remain naturally beautiful, to delay premature aging. That’s all.

First of all, do care about how you look. No one stands to gain anything if you look 45 when you are only 35.

1. Soak a few almonds (5-6) for 8 - 12 hours. Throw the water. You are not supposed to drink this water. Peal away the skin. Eat the almonds. Helps your skin, hair, memory, heart.

2. Drink lots of water.

3. Take fruit juices. Never take milk shakes. According to Ayurveda, milk and fruit make an unharmonious blend. Even if it’s a pulpy fruit you are taking like papaya or cheeku always blend it with water, never milk.

4. Remain slim. If you put on weight, you tend to look older. If you want to look young, you must be slim.

5. How to remain slim? Do Not go to a gym. Weights cause demineralization of the bones, treadmill jerks your knees and ankles. Suryanamaskara is the best you can do. It exercises every muscle of your body.

6. Do not use any kind of cream. Trust me you don’t need it.

7. Apply castor oil/olive oil to your skin and massage for 10 minutes. Leave it for an hour before you take bath. Do this once in four days. That will take care of all the moisturizing, nourishing your skin needs

8. Do not even apply soap. Plain lukewarm water is sufficient.

9. To get rid of facial hair, people go for waxing/threading. They will gradually cause wrinkles to appear. And make you look awful for the first few days of hair removal too. Instead apply turmeric - mix with water, make a dilute paste and apply it where required. Wash after 10 minutes. It leaves yellow colour on your face so do it the last thing before you go to bed. The next morning, you may wash your face with soap to remove the colour. Or better, have the oil massage ritual after this and wash with gram flour. Do this once in two-three days and in 6 months, you will see reduced hair growth. But make sure you avoid application close to eyebrows and the hair on your scalp. You don’t want to lose hair there.

10. Premature greying is on the rise. Understand that what you eat is more important than what you apply to your hair externally.

11. Do not use cosmetics - foundation cream, vanishing cream, eye liner, lipstick… except on occasions. They hurt your skin. It’s a cruelty if you are using these.

12. Eat a few pieces of Alma (you get them in the supermarket - sweet and salt). You can have amla pickle. Or amla in any form. It prevents greying, balding and promotes growth. A gentleman told me he noticed a few grey hair on his head and immediately started eating Amla. Within a few weeks, the grey streaks had turned black.

13. Do not colour/straighten/perm your hair. They cause hair falling, thinning and God knows what other problems.

14. If you are sitting in an Air Conditioned office, you already unfortunate, for it causes hair falling - it sucks moisture from your skin, eyes, scalp. Get into a secret pact with your administration department and get them to switch off the AC every few minutes and reduce the cooling to a minimum. During all seasons except summer, keep the AC switched off. Because you don’t need it!
I can’t understand jerks who want AC with high cooling and the, to protect themselves from the cold, wear a jacket in office! When you tell them its cold, they ask you to get a jacket too!

15. Do not use AC at home. Blend with the elements. When all plants, animals, creations in nature can sweat, why can’t you?

16. Do not comb your hair very often. Once a day is good.

17. Oil your hair once in three days. (I would recommend Neelibhringadi haair oil - available in Ayurvedic dispensaries) Soak for an hour at aleast. Wash. If you have any connection with the countryside and its people, get shikakai powder. They pluck it from the tree and grind it fresh. Nd then mix shikakai powder with soapnut powder (I am not sure of the English term). Its called Sujjal Pudi or Chigrey Pudi in Kannada, Arapu pudi in tamil.

18. Do not apply comb directly after hair wash. Finger comb your hair to remove the knots. And then gently, very gently comb it. This way you lose minimum hair after a wash.

19. Don’t use nail polish. The area around your nails are very sensitive. You can sooth your nerves by applying certain natural agents - like butter - around your fingernails and toenails. Imagine how sensitive they must be.

20. Have sprouts - they are rich in proteins - good for your hair.

21. Have dry fruit - almond, walnut, fig, dates, peanuts, apricot, raisins. Avoid cashew and pista.They contain fat.

22. Avoid going out in the sun as much as you can. The Sun today, I believe is harsher than it was in the past. Always carry an umbrella when you go out in the sun. since I don’t use sunscreen, I prefer avoiding the Sun. Even though you may carry an umbrella, UV rays are bouncing off other surfaces around you. even if you are using a sunscreen, you never know. Many people say they don’t make a difference. So after you come home in the evening, apply tomato, cucumber for restoration, recuperation.

23. Get at least 6 hours of sound sleep a day.

24. Meditate. It makes your skin look young, apart from the higher benefits.

25. Try to find ways and means of finding happiness in spite of your circumstances. Don’t complain, lament, worry, nag all the time. Just be happy.

Adding to the list above... (will do this from time to time)

26. Neem is a blood purifier. The minute you spot a pimple, boil on your face just beginning, pop two Neem capsules (I buy Himalaya Neem capsules - available in medical stores, Health & Glow etc) and seem them disappear the next day.

Beware of all the advertisements on television/magazines trying to promote beauty products. Know that they are all crooks who have mastered the art of conning people.
The surge of cosmetics in the market post 1991, when India opened her markets to foreign companies - the year when mysteriously, Indian women began winning international beauty pagents (so they could sell these useless creams to us) - is a drain of the nation’s wealth.
Millions of rupees are spent on these worthless creams that do more harm than good in the long run. You might as well flush that money down your toilet.

Know that anything that is not natural is a candidate for suspicion.
Anything that promises quick results is a candidate for suspicion.
Anything that defies nature - makes fair people dark or dark ones fair, stops aging, changes the shape of your nose, lips - is a candidate for suspicion.

Be Natural. Be Beautiful.