Beauty: An Enigma
If you read
only serious news – climate change, Russia-Ukraine war, Trump’s tantrums, Sensex
movements, and similar stuff - you may have missed the latest list of ‘Ten Most
Beautiful Women in the World’.
Who made
that list, why and how?
Dr. Julian De Silva
Well, it was
the outcome of a ‘study’ by Dr. Julian De Silva - an ophthalmologist by
education and training, who later trained in Plastic & Reconstructive
surgery – focussing only on the Face - and has about 10-year experience
in facial surgery. Possibly, he is the owner-proprietor-surgeon-researcher of Centre
for Advanced Facial Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery, London. Should you like to ‘Book
a Consultation,’ his portal provides a telephone number.
Dr. De Silva
meticulously measures facial features of select celebrities to determine the score
for perfect beauty by using the Greek mathematical ‘Golden Ratio’. He has
reportedly published such Top Ten lists in 2016, 2019, and 2022, too.
In the
latest list, Hollywood actress Emma Stone with a score of 94.72% is the most beautiful woman in the world. Two
Indian beauties have made it to the top ten - Freida Pinto is third, and
Aishwarya Rai Bachhan seventh. Rejoice, India! China has only one – Tang Wei,
the actress (not to be confused with Teng Wei, Professor of Comparative
Literature, who may be beautiful on her own right) at ninth. What if India is
way behind China in per capita income, and nuclear war-heads; it is higher in ‘beauty’
index!
Golden Ratio (GR)
What’s the
Golden Ratio? Attributed to Euclid, the father of geometry, the golden ratio is
a mathematical constant approximately equal to 1.6180339887…. It is often
associated with proportions considered harmonious, balanced, or aesthetically
pleasing in art, architecture, geometry, and nature - e.g., flower petals,
nautilus shells, human anatomy.
GR enthusiasts
find a high GR score in all things perfect and beautiful including Parthenon – a
masterpiece of Doric architecture, Egyptian pyramids, and Da Vinci’s Mona
Lisa! In his book on GR, Mario Livio[i]
traces its origin and popularity over the ages, but he debunks several myths.
Da Vinci has left behind copious notes on his works, but there is no mention
whatsoever of his application of GR ratio to draw Mona Lisa, asserts Mario.
People see what they wish to see! Research can be influenced by a-priori concepts,
theories, presumptions, and prejudices.
The ’study’
Since 2016,
several media channels have run the lists compiled by Dr. De Silva, but none
has raised any question or concern about the ‘study.’ Here are a few questions
that may put a perspective to the list.
Why did Dr.
De Silva conduct this study? Not for intellectual or aesthetic curiosity, but to
promote his business, no doubt. What was the sample size – 10/50/100?
Were only celebrities considered? Were mostly western female beauties
considered? Was their consent obtained? Why was only ‘face’ measured to derive
the score? Why not the heart, kidney, or liver? Why was the GR used?
Can ‘beauty’
be reduced to a mathematical equation? Isn’t it yet another ploy to objectify
women? Why should a human be tempted, manipulated, or coerced to compare with
others, and feel thrilled or devastated depending on the ‘score’? Isn’t every
human unique?
Soon, Indian
parents of ‘IIT-IIM educated, MNC-employed son’ may place matrimonial ads seeking
proposals ‘only from tall, fair-complexioned, well-educated girl from a
respected family. Candidates with Golden Ratio score of at least 85% may apply.’
An imagined chat
A client
books a consultation, and meets Dr. De Silva at the appointed hour. This is how
the chat proceeds:
Lady: Tks,
Doc for seeing me at short notice. Do you think my face needs fixing?
Doc: Why,
what do you think? Aren’t you happy with your face?
L: Well, I’ll
be candid. I know I’m very beautiful. So, a bit disappointed not to be in your
Top Ten list. What was my score, if you don’t mind sharing? Which features of
my face were found wanting?
D: That was
an academic study, driven by my intellectual, aesthetic curiosity. I’m
disinclined to suggest corrective surgery basis the GR.
L: No issue.
Tell me which of my facial features can be improved? How many sittings?
Cost of procedure is no issue, but I’ve a very busy schedule, you know, and may
need to cancel a few previous commitments.
The
competent, conscientious doc took several close photos of her face from various
angles, and said, ‘I’d study and analyze these photos and recommend corrective
surgery, if needed. In our next session, I’ll brief you about the procedure,
and show you AI-generated images of how your face would look after the surgery.’
The session
ended. The hefty consultation fee had been paid at the time of booking the
consultation.
What is Beauty?
What is
beauty? Who is a beautiful person?
Concept of
beauty has significant cultural variations, preferences, and nuances. There are
no universally-accepted essential features or parameters to evaluate a person’s
beauty.
Beauty is not in the face!
Had the
surgeon-researcher read thoughtful poets, he might have hesitated to estimate
beauty based merely on facial features.
“Beauty is
not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart,” asserts Kahlil Gibran.
“Beauty is
truth’s smile when she beholds her own face in a perfect mirror.” - Rabindranath
Tagore
“The
loveliness of a woman lies in her speech, not in her form.” - Thiruvalluvar
(Tirukkural)
Beauty and vanity
Vanity is most
often a close companion of beauty.
The evil
Queen - Snow White’s step-mother asked,
“Mirror, Mirror
on the wall,
Who is the fairest one of all?”[ii]
She was devastated
and furious when the mirror named Snow White.
Snow White
was, of course, fair-complexioned. What was the evil Queen’s colour?[iii]
Feminine Beauty
Classical Indian texts
Kamasutra discusses
feminine beauty at length. It is more than a treatise on sex. A comprehensive manual
on love, and the art of enjoying love, sex, and life; it provides guidance for success
in kama, one of the fundamental goals of life . Inter alia, it also discusses the
attributes of attractive men and women. Physical beauty, alone, is inadequate.
Beauty needs a thinking mind, a feeling heart, sensibility, compassion, and
much more.
In the
Śilpaśāstras, holistic feminine beauty is defined through physical proportions
(tāla-māna system), bodily attributes (lakṣaṇa), and aesthetic qualities (bhāva
& rasa).
The purpose was to guide the sculptors and painters to represent idealized
beauty—physical, emotional, and spiritual. Following these textual guidelines,
the sculptors and artists captured exquisite feminine beauty in their immortal
works - the yakshi at Sanchi stupa, the frescoes on the walls of Ajanta and
Ellora, and the sculpture of shalabhanjika.
_at_the_Chennakesava_Temple,_Belur.jpg)
(A beautiful lady in classical tri-bhanga pose_Chennakeshava temple,Belur; Source: Wikimedia Commons))
Sanskrit Poetry
Beauty
cannot be measured by a tape, in mm or cm. Sanskrit shringar poets, especially
Kalidasa and Jayadev, celebrate feminine beauty in immortal verse – through the
sheer power of words, similes, and metaphors.
In Meghadutam,
the Yaksha suffering a curse and banished from his abode, pines for his absent
lady-love by seeing her in various facets of nature. In an exquisite
verse, Kalidasa celebrates the Yakshini’s beauty through nature.
“In the
śyāma-vines I see your body,
your glance
in the gazelle's startled eye,
the cool
radiance of your face in the moon,
your tresses
in the peacock's luxuriant train,
your
eyebrow's graceful curve in the stream's small waves;
but alas! O
cruel one, I see not
your
whole likeness anywhere in any one thing.”[iv]
(Bold
Italics by blogger)
Beauty
cannot be reduced to just one or a few features.
Jayadeva
describes Radha’s beauty in memorable verses in Git-Govinda. Krishna’s neglect
has deeply hurt Radha. To placate her, Krishna sings in praise of her beauty:
Your
lips are luscious red like Bandhuka[v] flower;
your face has the golden pale hue of the Madhuka (Mahua) flower; your eyes surpass
in beauty the blue lotus; your nose is exquisite like a tila (Sesame) flower;
and your teeth sparkle white like kunda-kalika (jasmine bud) flower. How
amazing that you’re a mortal, yet are endowed with the heavenly beauty and
effulgence of apsaras – Madalasa, Indumati, Manorama, Rambha, Kalabati, and
Chitralekha!
You are Beautiful!
Do not judge
a book by its cover, counsel the wise. The most appealing, alluring cover can
never hide if there is trash inside. Yet, many succumb to the easy trap of
facial charm. What if a beautiful face has rotten teeth, foul odour, and the
mouth opens to shower unprintable expletives in a hoarse voice? What if she’s a
dumb beauty - not physically-challenged, but with a weak mind?
A person is
more than her face, body, flawless pearl-white skin, hairstyle, expensive attire,
sun-glasses, fragrance, luxury car, accent, etc.
A human is a
complex being- impossible to judge on one or a few parameters.
If you’re a
model, or aspire to rise and shine in show-biz, you may stress about your bodily
features; but if you’re happy to be alive, at peace with yourself and the world,
and have a purpose in life; your inner beauty would radiate naturally and it’d
be impossible for the world to pass by without noticing. A fragrant rose makes
its presence felt even when unseen.
You are as
beautiful as you wish to be, but you need to work on it. All your life.
Transience of Beauty
But it’s
good to remember; beauty, like fame, wealth, and life itself, is transient and
ephemeral.
The famed courtesan
Ambapālī was celebrated for her
incredible beauty. When she grew older, she meditated on her fading form. This
led her to illumination, and she became an arahant -liberated one – in the
Buddhist Order.
In the Therīgāthā,
she sings:
“The hairs
on my head were once curly,
black, like
the color of bees,
now because
of old age
they are
like jute.
It's just as
the Buddha, speaker of truth, said,
nothing
different than that.”[vi]
Just in Jest: My score
What may be
my ‘score,’ I wondered.
Dr. De Silva
may or may not take up a study to bring up a list of Ten Most-Handsome Men in
the World, and even if he does, he is unlikely to include in his sample a
dark-skinned, seventy-one-year-old Indian who has never been complimented as handsome,
by women or men, in his youth or later. Not to be put down by such depressing
thoughts , I sought ChatGPT’s help.
Me: Can you
please estimate my GR?
ChatGPT: Yes,
I can help estimate your facial ratio if you upload a clear front-facing
photograph.
I did that.
C asked me for ten measurements in mm or cm. You may use a scale/ruler
on the printed photo or screen, it suggested.
Me: Sorry, I’ve
no time for that.
C: No issue.
I can try an approximate visual proportion assessment, but it will be less
precise.
Me: I’m fine
with that. Pls go ahead.
C: “Your Overall
Estimated Golden-Ratio Harmony Score
≈ 78% to 85%
range.
This would
be interpreted as:
‘You have
good natural facial proportional harmony with partial alignment to the golden
ratio — especially around the eyes — while other areas show normal human
variation.’
This is very
much within the typical healthy adult proportional range, and is not a cosmetic
judgment.
***
[i] The Golden
Ratio: The Story of PHI, the World’s Most Astonishing Number (2002) by Mario
Livio - Israeli-American astrophysicist, Hubble Space Telescope scientist, and
popular science writer.
[ii] In Brothers Grimm’s fairy-tale Snow White (1812), the
original German word was Spieglein
meaning ‘little mirror;’ in the English retelling, it became ‘mirror, mirror’,
and in Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), it became ‘magic
mirror.’
[iii] In the original Brothers Grimm tale, the Queen’s
colour (appearance or complexion) is not specified.
Only Snow White is
described in the famous formula:
“skin white as snow,
lips red as blood, hair black as ebony.”
The Queen—Snow White’s
stepmother—is simply described as a beautiful woman, proud and vain, and obsessed
with being the fairest.
But no colour—skin,
hair, or attire—is given in the early editions of the Grimms’ text.
Where does the idea of
the Queen’s colour come from? Disney (1937) gave her a pale, aristocratic
complexion. Later illustrations dressed her in black and purple, adding to her
sinister aura. (Source: Chat GPT)
[iv] The Complete Works of Kalidasa, Vol-1: Poems;
Translated by Chandra Rajan, Sahitya Akademi publication
[v] Scarlet mallow, Midday flower (Pentapetes phoenicea)
A bright red flower, often compared in Sanskrit poetry with the color of rising
sun or red lips. Frequently used in similes in classical kāvya.
[vi] Therigatha: Poems of the First Buddhist Women;
Translated by Charles Hallisey, Murty Classical Library of India.
