Be proud of who you are, and not ashamed of how someone else sees you - Meenakshi Sivakumar; Sociology Department

 

In a world that is becoming more and more superficial with each passing day, people forget to appreciate all the things they've been blessed with. We are all special in our own way, as hard as it might be to believe sometimes. People have different standards of beauty, and just because you do not fit some doesn't mean you are worthless. We're human, we tend to have a liking for the outwardly beautiful, but in the long run the inwardly beautiful tend to impress us the most. In this highly competitive world, we should focus more on honing our skills and inborn talents than being insecure about our supposed flaws. In the Oscar winning movie "Beauty and the Beast", the wise and beautiful Belle does not spare a glance at the rich and handsome Gaston, but falls for the intellectual and kind Beast instead. One of the most memorable quotes from the movie is "Beauty is found within", which is very apt for the subject at hand. Evil and cruelty are thorns in one's heart that can shatter the pretty masks of the most fair. History has proved time and time again that the conventionally unattractive ones are the most memorable, for e.g., Abraham Lincoln, Napoleon Bonaparte and in recent times Lizzie Velasquez and Laxmi Agarwal has won the hearts of millions. We should never forget to love ourselves, flaws and all; because they are a part of what made us who we are today.