Brains, not blonde

I am plump. If you see me walking by in the corridor, the first thing you will notice about me is that I am plump. No matter, what I do I just can’t let go of the food that finds its way next to me.

Some weeks back, at the opening of a salon, I met a woman who was all dressed up. Her manner of dressing was flawless. ‘Pretty’ would be a perfect word to define her, polished nails, high heels and attire. Soon she noticed me sitting right opposite her. We started talking and soon she started talking about weight and eating and said: “I wonder why people don’t care about themselves, what’s there to offer in this world, apart from good looks and a slim and smart figure?” The moment she uttered those words, it struck me hard on the head — and on the heart as well.

I gave her one last look and muttered this in my heart, “Yeah right, dumb blonde!” Probably, a hundred times. Why do we forget that brains and a little intelligence is what exactly counts at the end of the day.

I still remember my good old college days at St Josephs, when we heard a debating contest “Is it better to be a wild beast or a dumb blonde.” I still remember it well, how I had actually sided with the students who believed it was better to be a wild beast than a dumb blonde. I had given my reasons to a close friend who was sitting beside me and said: “Well, at least we make sense out of something than nothing at all.” Maybe I was wrong, maybe I wasn’t – but one thing is for sure, intelligence matters more than anything else.

There are in fact two more traits that make up a lady, other than brains I would say it would have to be breeding. Yes, by  rare chance a complete lady is one who has all three qualities in her beauty, brains and breeding. But then that’s a rarity and one can’t dwell on it for long – at least in this world.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10th, 2010.