The Eternal Beauty

She desperately searched all her drawers, scattering every thing around. She rushed to her bedroom and opened the cupboard, there it was , a copy of the photograph that was clicked around 25 years ago. At that time she was just 18 and the reigning beauty queen of the country, Miss India 1989.

She stared at the picture, how lovely she looked. Her flawless skin, long black curly hair, her luscious lips, a figure that could put to shame even the most beautifully carved statue and a smile that  the country died for. So many fans used to stand below her home all night to catch one glimpse of her and even more proclaiming their endless love for her. If she waved once from her balcony that would make the news headlines for the next day.

Suddenly she was enraged, she tore the picture in pieces and the moment she was about it throw it out of her window it struck her that the only memory of her beauty had been destroyed by her. Tears rolled on her face. She ran towards the dressing table and switched on all the lights and peered into the mirror. With age pigmentation had started to show its effects on her skin. Her eyes had lost their shine, her chapped lips were devoid of any moisture and resembled a poorly painted red wall whose plaster was chipping off. Her skin was sagging at places and the stretch marks had begun to show. Her once flat belly had a decent amount of weight on it. She cried and cried.

No amount of yoga, make up or surgeries could make her look young now. Thousands of botox implants, lakhs spent on makeup and hair transplant and still she appeared old. All her life she feared what if her beauty fades away not because she wanted to be the most beautiful but because she knew that once her beauty fades away no one would care about her. And now her nightmare seemed to come to life.

She was Miss India but she could never make it to movies. Many directors put all their money on her but a charming face cannot make up for the lack of acting. She was a big disappointment as an actress but still a super star in the advertisement world. Her smile pursued men to buy the toothpaste she uses in order to get that once date promised in the ad for one lucky contestant. Ladies envied her. But today she was close to being nothing. The rusted bars of her iron gate had no visitor since a long time. She’d sit in the balcony hoping some fan of her would come and shout to her. But nobody did. She sat in silence suffering alone. “She was a thing of beauty, a joy forever” but now she felt useless.

Her fears turned her paranoid from that very day when she read an article in a bollywood magazine about stars that got one night success. All her myths about her popularity came crashing down when she saw her name on the top of the list. She was never a star. Just a model for some endorsements and that too long ago.

She feared if they saw her now they’ll mock her. Laugh at her ugly looking body. He ran to the bathroom and turned on the shower. She scrubbed her body hard and came out shinning. She wore her best dress and applied makeup that made her look better. She stood in her balcony inhaling the scent of the city of dreams that once made all her dreams true and with that she took the plunge.

She jumped from the balcony.

She had one problem just one. She did not want the world to see her getting old. She wanted them to remember her as a youthful lady whose beauty never faded....