Few days back I caught the repeat telecast of an awards function. As the awardees were already known by then, it was the star performances that I was looking forward to. Katrina Kaif was also to perform. The moment she descended on the stage, my heart did skip a beat. She truly looked like the Goddess of beauty. Suddenly the camera offered a close-up of her radiant face. And lo! I saw her forehead full of acne, looking like a bumpy forest track. I was shocked. Now call me foolish or ignorant, but I accept though sheepishly, that the movie stars often look superhuman to me. I always wonder how they maintain a healthy skin and a great physique, and lose or gain weight so easily. I have always thought that acne, pimples, baby fat, ‘tyres’ on waist are only reserved for ‘lesser’ human beings like me. Naturally, I never expected Katrina to have acne on her forehead. She seems to me one of the most beautiful Bollywood heroines. A line from the song ‘uncha lamba kad’ picturised on her from the movie Welcome, which says ‘chand me daag hai lekin kudiye tujh me koi nahin kharabi’ (moon has scars, but girl, your beauty is flawless) appears to be specially written for her. Her forehead really came as an eye-opener to me. This episode at once took me two years back when I once bunked my office to catch Aishwarya-Abhishek starrer Umrao Jaan. The introductory scene of Aishwarya shows her looking in a mirror and silently admiring herself. As soon as my colleague sitting next to me saw this scene, she exclaimed at the top of her voice, “Oh look! She has a pimple on her face, though she has crores of rupees.” Needless to say, her instinctive comment drew a lot of attention, with people giving us cold looks for shouting in the middle of the movie. However, the recollection of that incident and this recent Katrina affair made me laugh at my foolishness for considering the filmstars superhuman. It also made me wonder why we often try to be what we are not. As a teenager, I longed to have a sultry figure like that of Urmila Matondakar. I would never miss her interviews in the hope that in any of them she would divulge the secret of her envious figure. In one such interview, she did spill the beans. “Oh! It’s all god-gifted. I gorge upon so much of junk food and chocolates, still never put on any weight.” I got really frustrated with her answer. “Thank you very much,” I simmered, “That was quite a revelation.” We all dream of an hourglass-like figure with a radiant skin, and when we do not achieve it, we fume. Markets flooded with cosmetics, and low-fat and sugar-free food products are enough evidence to prove it. Why can’t we take pride in the way God has made us? We always say beauty is skin-deep. But do we realise it ourselves? We use this statement as a mouthwash to take the bad taste out. Rather than sermonising, we should follow this maxim ourselves. We may not be like those models, but we are special in our own way. There is no one who looks exactly like us. We are the only one of our kind. The problem is that we always look at those with a better skin or figure than that of ours and brood if ever we would be like them. Just for a day, try looking at the heavier ones and those with their faces full of pimple marks, you will feel much better. Instead of gawking at the pretty Bollywood beauties gyrating at the peppy numbers, try considering the efforts of a plain and plump Saroj Khan, Farah Khan or Vaibhavi Merchant who choreographed those moves. And trust me, it will really work. I have tried it myself. Yesterday while shopping for clothes when I was fretting over not being able to get into my previous size, standing close to a girl demanding a pair of jeans with 36” waist was really a delight. Let’s be proud of ourselves and sing together the Butterfly Song that we learned in childhood: I just thank you Father for making me ‘me’ For you gave me a heart and you gave me a smile You gave me Jesus and you made me your child And I just thank you Father for making me ‘me’.