The girl was beautiful and she herself knew that very well that’s why she was very sensitive about her dresses, shoes, jewelry and make-up and other things. She tried her best to make herself appear more and more beautiful and to become the centre of others’ attention. She not only spent a huge amount of her father’s money on shopping different things as style and fashion keep changing but also gave sufficient time to look after her skin and body. Usually, she was found to be carrying a bottle of water with her and daily she drank many liters of water to keep her skin fresh. She was equally aware of the importance of keeping her hair healthy and beautiful and thus she showed extreme interest in different advertisements in this regard. These things she could do in her own time and no one was bothered but her one habit disturbed others a lot and it was on her record that she never reached to somewhere on time. Whenever she had to go out, she took almost an hour or more in making herself ready. She thought a lot before choosing a dress, then she started looking for a pair of matching shoes, then she would dress her hair according to the occasion. She hardly got satisfied with herself when she stood in front of mirror and thus time and again she would apply cosmetics or comb her hair. Usually, she made the rest of the family members late for a wedding ceremony or other place where they were supposed to go together. In the morning, her classmates usually complained of her to make them reach late to the university.
The above complex is not limited to the girls or females only. In old times, make-up or beautifying herself was attributed with the females only while men were absolutely free of this but these days we see that men are also giving full attention to their appearance. Suits, jackets, shoes, watches, belts, scents, sunglasses and many more things have become a matter of great concern for the male community. Teenagers and youth also give much importance to their hairstyles.
From the above scenario, I recalled a joke. Two men were discussing almost a thousand year’s old story. In the continuation of the story, they disagreed on a point. One was of the view that the camel of the man stood up from the right side while other insisted that it had got up from the left side. When a man sitting near them saw that they were arguing on this petty issue, he smiled and said to them, ‘Oh dear brothers! What difference would it make if the camel had stood up from the right or the left? You need to utilize your time in any other productive work.’
The above joke comes true to the condition of a person who spends a lot of time in dressing him or herself. It is natural that, we, the human beings, like beauty; in whichever shape it maybe. The natural beauty of mountains, grass, water, trees and artificial beauty of man-made cars, buildings and drawings attract our attention and we extend both our adoration and admiration towards them. Due to the same natural tendency, we also get satisfaction when we appear beautiful to others and we are appreciated either by words or by the admiring looks of others.
With beauty and good appearance, we can attach some more qualities of our nature. When we see a person who is dirty and looking unpleasant, we feel disgust towards it. On the other hand, a charming personality or appearance of a person may make the people around him or her feel better. This feeling is not limited to the personalities either; rather we draw the same feelings from good or bad scenes or places. Keeping in view the above facts, it is quite natural if we like to appear beautiful and for this purpose, we can try within our limits but it is very hopeless if a person’s entire personality circulates around this and his whole personality becomes limited to his external appearance only.
At the same time it also shows the personal immaturity of a person who tries to exhibit himself with his external appearance only. Usually it has been found that people who are having some kind of inferiority complex about their personalities are found to be trying hard to fill up this gap with a bombastic appearance but unfortunately, any such stupid act does nothing good to the person except to make him appear more stupid in the eyes of others. This reality may be discussed in his absence if not told on his face.
A person used to say that some people have only appearance and when you will remove this beautiful external cover, they appear to be fully empty from inside. He always used to give the example of onion that when we keep peeling the layers of onion in hope of finding something solid in the base, we get really disappointed when we discover nothing inside and it was a bunch of layers on layers.
As mentioned earlier, if this habit is consuming too much of your time, it means that you will not find enough time to devote to other useful and constructive ideas and thus it will stop your mental growth and then you will be like a dummy in a boutique; the beauty of this dummy is retained by covering it with more and more colorful and beautiful dresses. How disgusting it would be to look at if we imagine a dummy without any clothes on it.
It is unfortunate that our society is based on such attitudes where appearance is given more importance and in this regard, one’s true qualities are ignored. Many years ago, when the number of internet cafes in Kabul was very limited, I found a net café which was equipped with latest computers and was on a good location. When I found this café, I was in typical Afghan dress. When I was about to enter the café, I was stopped in the entrance and a person inquired why I wanted to go in. Actually, this was café mostly used by foreigners and their concern in this regard was quite natural. Anyhow, I was allowed to go in and I also learned this thing that my clothes and appearance was also responsible for this attitude of the café administration. When I told this story to my friend, we decided to assess our hypothesis. Next day, both of us wore elegant suits and reached to the café in my friend’s luxury car. When we were about to enter the café, the same person came to us, welcomed us and opened the door for us. He later on accompanied us to an empty cabin as well. I realized that this was the miracle of our fancy dresses.
Another problem with this mindset is the wastage of money. If one has to spend thousands on the clothes and shoes of new style every month, he may not have much to spend on other necessary items.
Like all the other good or bad habits, this habit can also be changed by the will of the person. It is necessary that we need to understand the importance of being mature and give preference to the qualities on appearance which are worth acquiring and rearing.