Fragile Beauty

by Dr. Jaipal Singh



I was fourteen then And she was in late thirties I was an innocent adolescent She my teacher and a real beauty This school going adolescent boy Had a crush, idolized and loved her Being a fair and obedient student She too had special liking for him. I was too young to understand As she remained a spinster in life Nicknamed a beauty queen in town Always a subject of curiosity and talk Equally among the teachers and students For her beauty, mannerism and attire. Passed school and graduated In education and life as well After so many eventful years It was just a sheer chance While sharing reminiscences of past Someone said she lives in the same city. Nostalgia took me to her house She was now around eighty All alone in her old age And sick with a host of diseases No trace of her erstwhile beauty Looked more like a wrinkled mass Of waning flesh on a skeletal frame With some stress on memory She was able to recognize - The adolescent turned a mature man, Overwhelmed I stayed a few hours To offer my reverence, regard and solace. Totally shaken with grief and pain That evening I returned back home I wonder if this is the ultimate nemesis Irrespective of a woman or a man Of the senile and decaying body mass That represents beauty, manners and style Why many of us are so madly in love with At a particular phase in our life...! Often while craving for the body So mortal, freak and fragile We remain ignorant of the beauty of soul Which is ageless, immortal and pure.

Image © Getty Images

08-Apr-2012

More By : Dr. Jaipal Singh

Views: 1574 Comments: 5

Comments on this Poem

What a nice description of decaying of a beauty ! Jai Saheb, here in this world all things are temporary.Man falls in love by illusion, outer beauty and attraction for
reproduction.It's God's arrangement.Everything is
decaying after it is made.Our food decays after it is
ready.A car is being older after releases from its show room.A house is being older after it's completed.One thing is only evergreen.He is only and only the God.He is truth.He is beautiful. He is Shiv.
So He is said in Indian mythology,"Satam,Shivam,
Sundaram".It is extracted of all knowledge,all Scriptures. It is a great mimicry that we live in an
illusion and darkness but do not want to know about reality.Here you have depicted a real phenomena of our life situation through description of a lady teacher.Thank you very much.Few people
go from outer beauty to inner(spiritual) beauty.You have completely succeeded in your aim.Congrats.
Again a lot of thanks Jaipal Singh Ji.

Nathmal Sharma
29-Jul-2014 13:33 PM

Your short and crisp remarks are far more powerful and meaningful than writing a para or page. Thanks, Kulbir Ji.

jairathore
06-Aug-2012 00:36 AM

Notwithstanding this fact, a soul or mind needs a medium to express, hence the relevance and importance of body. Perhaps what needs to be understood is that nothing is permanent, everything is constantly changing and this change should be accepted with grace by all.

I'm glad you liked it, Rupradha Ji.

jairathore
06-Aug-2012 00:31 AM

Touching!

Kulbir
05-Aug-2012 19:30 PM

Often while craving for the body
So mortal, freak and fragile
We remain ignorant of the beauty of soul
Which is ageless, immortal and pure.
very true..excellent lines..

Rupradha
05-Aug-2012 08:59 AM