Reflections - A Journey Through Life

Which beauty would you see? Men look at women. Being a man I know that. For the same reason, I do not know so conclusively whether women also look at men the same way. By logical deduction, I am sure that women do look at men, but I am not sure about the manner in which they do. Amongst faces in the crowd my eyes automatically search for a beautiful one. If there is one, it shines like a brightly lit lamp amongst so many unlit dark lamps around. Yes, to many of us beauty is embodied in women. To us men at least. I do not really know whether women also find other women beautiful. And there is no practical reason why they should. I have my own definition of beauty built bit by bit over so many decades. By what? Apart from the inherent subjective element, it certainly is the society around me that shaped the definition of beauty in me. Oh yes, perception of human beauty is subjective. Definition of beauty for an African man will certainly be different from that of an English ...

Faulty world As I was walking hurriedly through the milling crowd I collided with a glowing cigarette held by a casual hand. The burning tip of the cigarette broke off against my beautiful brand new black striped trousers and with a mild sadness I slowed my pace—oh my specially tailored favorite one day old trousers! Still walking I inspected the white spot on the fabric and tried to rub it off. No big success. I could see clearly the whiteness of the spot. The fabric must have been irreversibly burnt—I thought. My sadness deepened. In the midst of the jostling crowd I felt lonely—what a bad luck. My mind drooped. The bright sunshine dimmed. But I had to walk on as everybody has to. With every step now I slowly widened the focus of my mind from the single white spot on my trousers. I felt the spreading. It spread slowly all over the full length and breadth of the trousers. I thought, yes, the total area of the fabric is much larger than the spot. The size of the spot reduced. ...