"A mask tells us more than a face.”
If there is something which is ubiquitous, across the board, ethnicities, cultures, nations, nationalities, races, civilisations..it is the irrepressible tendency of humans to mask..as in a verb. Their intentions, desires, moods, temperament, in fact their whole personality.
Strange isnt it? I mean you spend a lifetime becoming what you are and then spend a major part of it masking that. So then, why did you get to be that in the first place? (funny.. how much one can convey just with the usage of prepositions!)
Is there then "Cinderella time" for the clock to strike and the mask to melt away into nothingness, or does it after a while become a fixture, beneath which only a shadow of the original exists, wrinkled, jaded, shrivelled!
Given the present scenario, how does one then operate? Does one have to have one as well? A social mask for a masked society? I wonder then if one gets aware of the circumstance of donning it or does it magically appear at will, a la Superman/woman, spiderman/woman, catman/woman..will have to ask son for further references..
And Truth? What of that? Oh! it shines through.. at times.. when in love and the one beneath decides to unburden the tragedy of his being and revel in the freedom of just Being, in the hope of acceptance on 'an as is where is basis'..not long before time decides to unleash its seasonal fury and the mask of the other gets blown away to smithereens to reveal who? A stranger...ah Well! all in the game of life.
Come to think of it, is it really that 'all pervasive', this mask business ? Lets look around.. internet..hmm pseudonyms, friends...reliable?naah, family.. of course.. 'blood is thicker than water and all that'..yeah Pravin proved that by actually shedding it..and us? Well me.. I write under my own name, have been attacked since times immemorial because of my inability to cloak my feelings, so thats two+.. as for the rest well who knows ..am yet in the process of discovering.
Difficult process.. if you ask me.. since one is unable to decipher when it came on or if it has come on at all? Scary .. It strikes surreptitiously and is so infectious. By merely looking at one , there are grave chances of it manifesting with alarming equality or greater proportion on to you.And before you know it hey presto! there you are responding, reverberating, echoing, tones, voices, accents, attitudes..
“Our masks, always in peril of smearing or cracking, in need of continuous check in the mirror or silverware, keep us in thrall to ourselves, concerned with our surfaces.” ..Tricky business this.. make, preserve, modernise, refresh, re-mix,chameleon like:)( No reference to you CK. just so apt for the point)
Then why even bother? Why not just BE? Savour the freedom of your own emotions, thughts, personality, ideas.. Because 'No one is more youer than you'.. and as long as it is you who loves your self, why bother if the world does , one way or the other? It is the one in the mirror who has to smile back..the world's smile maybe the mask of a clowns, in any case.. who knows?
'Summon all the strength to rip off that mask'..Oxygenate, Live and Love. You come by this way just once..
About Me
- Kaveetaa Kaul
- Sachiniti' shifted base to Wordpress http://sachiniti.wordpress.com Kaveetaa Kaul topped Mumbai University, with a First Class First Honours and graduated in World History, Constitution of England and India. Subsequently, she dipped into Advertising and marketing, Montetessori training, and Yoga teachers training. She is trained in Kathak style of Indian dance and light classical vocals. Kaveetaa has produced serials for Sony, Zee and has acted and written as well. Her main priority being children and home, she has opted for a flexible professional routine. In addition, she has studied Numerology, Feng Shui, Aroma Therapy, Tarot card reading, Reiki. She lives in Mumbai with her husband and son.
4 comments:
Hey! that was wonderfully written and all that..but I'd still like to keep to my 'anonymous'.. :)On a larger scale tho, I get your point..Be me.
'And Truth? What of that? Oh! it shines through.. at times.. when in love and the one beneath decides to unburden the tragedy of his being and revel in the freedom of just Being, in the hope of acceptance on 'an as is where is basis'..not long before time decides to unleash its seasonal fury and the mask of the other gets blown away to smithereens to reveal who? A stranger...ah Well! all in the game of life.'
Sigh...how beautiful is that promise...
tell me it's the truth ...after one disastrous relationship and 8 experiments I have lost faith
but would want to savor a time when i will be allowed to be me...
Heraclitus once said that you can never step in the same river twice. Meaning that, once even a small bit of time has passed, the water in that river has flowed on, and so it's not the same river anymore. He meant it as a metaphor for the way the world is constantly in flux, and could have said it just as well any number of ways. You never walk into the same building twice. You never look at the same sky twice. You never talk to the same person twice.
It's especially true with people, because we're always changing. And, putting aside for a bit the fact that none of us are the same from moment to moment -- after all, we're the sum total of our experiences, which are constantly being added to -- most of us (I'd say all, but I don't know everybody just yet, so I'll hold off on it for now) behave differently around different people.
Most people don't really want to admit it a lot of the time. We're fine with admitting the fact that the person we happen to be around our parents is different from the one we are when we're with our best friend from school. But we don't like so much acknowledging that we behave differently around that friend and another we know equally well.
I don't see much wrong with it, myself, at that level. So long as you're not subverting yourself to please others, it's natural (and in many ways a Good Thing) that you tend to think and act a little differently around various people. With some you're more comfortable about certain things; with some the direction of conversations and events is altered by shared interests. It's not something we usually even notice, in ourselves or in others.
The interesting part is when you do notice. When distance (geographical or temporal) accentuates the differences and the changed personality to a degree that there's a bit of dissonance between the way a person is around two different people, and the changes become a little more blatant. When the river's not only changed its water, but also has a new set of rocks in between it and the bank.
Anonymous,
No harm in anonymity, so long as you are in touch on a regular basis with the guy in the mirror:)
Silbil,
It is not possible that there is not that one special person destined for you. Whatever happened took place only to prepare you for and chisel you for love. Learn from it and grow.. most importantly, forgive with your heart. If possible send a few good vibes their way too. So that you are totally healed within.
Just be yourself.. open your arms to life.. and when you meet him allow and accept him as he is too..All will be fine.
Ck,
The crux of it all lies in what you termed as 'subverting yourself' for the other. In other words, being in the 'chess-playing' mode. Manipulation has become a way of life. So much so that one is constantly trying to look beyond words, to try and get a glimpse of the person behind, or if in fact it is a veiled picture.
Wouldnt it be wonderful to have a technical breakthrough of sorts where auras would do the talking.. you know cant get fooled type of auras, which reflect the individual in his entirety. You meet the person and the color of the aura exuded is a tell-tale of what he/she is all about. It happens in the realm of ideas, I suppose.. the fifth plane of existence. I have decided to place a reservation there. Its time.
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