Monday 7 April 2014

Faces - What do they tell you?


When you hear the word ‘face’, what is the first thought that comes to your mind?

There are so many attributes of our lives which are associated with our faces.

In Chinese culture, there is a lot of focus on ‘having face’ or ‘saving face’ or ‘giving face’. Face there is equated with status, prestige & honour. Not very different from Indian culture, isn’t it?  

The face glows with pride, is hidden when shamed, turns red with anger and blushes with pleasure or embarrassment.

I find faces very interesting. Whenever I am in the bus or train or am at the market or restaurant, wherever I am, I observe people’s faces as they go about their business. I can’t help but wonder about the story behind the face. Are they happy, are they sad, are they grieving, are they scheming? Is that well dressed man a good father or a child abuser? Is he a good husband or a wife beater? Is she cheating on her husband? Is she a good daughter? Did this couple start off their day with words filled with love or have an argument this morning? Is she mourning or is there something irritating her eye? Are they benevolent or malevolent? And let alone others what does my face reveal?
  
Source : Google Images
Source : Google Images
The faces of children and the elderly are the most charming. Children’s faces are fresh, innocent and completely devoid of any lines associated with life’s ups and downs. A face which is yet to see life. At the other end of the spectrum are the faces of elderly with so many deeply etched lines, each one having it's own story to tell. These well-lined faces talk about a life fully lived. These are the two sets of humans who cry, laugh, show their emotions without worrying about who is watching them. Children don’t know yet that they should hide the emotions and the elderly don’t care.

In the middle of the spectrum are those who have started to live life in all its glory. They are in the process of getting all those wrinkles and lines. Could be lines of laughter or could be lines of worry. Maybe both.

Source : Google Images
And there-in lies the interesting part. Many belonging to this segment try so hard to keep a smooth face, by hiding the lines with make-up or erasing with Botox or with some other treatment. As we grow up we learn to present a different “face” to the world by hiding our true emotions or age o. We feign being brave and cheerful when we are crumbling inside, we feign ignorance when we know what is going on, we feign pleasure when we want to stick a dagger into someone, we feign anger when we are not, we feign acquiescence when we don’t agree, we feign caring when we really don’t care, we laugh when we want to cry and so on. We learn to mark our true emotions. Is it any wonder that there are phrases like ‘taking things at face value’, 'two faced', 'poker face', etc?

Source : Google Images
How liberating it would be to show our true emotions or to admit to our real age! Oh, the freedom in proudly showing off all those lines and wrinkles, which are indicators of a life lived fully. And life would be so simple.

So strange that when one is young, we are in a tearing hurry to become an adult and when we are adults we do so many things to our body to look young. 

But there is a dead giveaway no matter what people do to their face. When makeup and Botox masks a person’s face, their eyes give it all away. The eyes be it jaded or innocent or sparkling, always reveal a person's journey through life, to some extent, especially in their most unguarded moments.


What do you think?






For A-Z Challenge 2014


Here are some of my fellow challengers:

http://janakinagaraj.com/ - Janaki Nagaraj

http://afshan-shaik.blogspot.sg/ - Afshan Shaik

http://cynthology.blogspot.sg/ - Cynthia  Rodrigues Manchekar

http://artofleo.wordpress.com/ - Leo

http://juztamom.blogspot.in/ - Juzta Mom

22 comments:

  1. We do learn quite a bit from someone's faces--especially the eyes. The eyes are the window to the soul.

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    1. Yes, we can be mislead by face, but never by the eyes. Thanks for dropping by Stephanie Faris.

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  2. Faces.. They some little and so much. It is for us to pause and observe, and try to make sense of it all. Nothing like the "real and natural" stuff - My views only! Enjoyed reading

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    1. Thank you Nischala. True. Nothing beats real and natural.

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  3. Thanks for featuring me. And I agree with you...face is the index of mind. Let us not cosmetize it. (Did I coin a new term?!!)

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    1. My pleasure, Janu. By the power vested in me, I hereby grant you the "comestize" copyright. :) Go on child, use the term liberally :)

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  4. I love the way you come up with these topics. Random, yet relevant. :)

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  5. F for Face...wow I wonder why I never thought of it. And you are so right. Like they say " A face is a heart's mirror" and nothing beats natural!

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  6. Thanks for mentioning my name Prathima :) I appreciate your time and effort on my blog. You are always one of the first few who visit mine
    and again what a thoughtful post. FACE is the index of the mind. Like U I also get lost in thoughts seeing people's faces and expressions and ya many go beyond limits to repair their faces which is sad...

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    1. My pleasure, Afshan. And thank you for the kind words. If the person doing the face repair messes up, then, that's it. One expression frozen on the face for eternity!

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  7. Like you, Prathima, I too love to observe faces and attempt to figure out the character and personality of people from them. It is a harmless hobby that provides a lot of amusement. One's face is a mirror where others can always read about the kind of people we are. The truth of what we are will always be visible on the face, and no amount of makeup can change that.

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    1. Yes, it's truly an interesting & certainly harmless hobby. I sometimes give voice to my thoughts to my friend on what I think might be story behind the face. :)What you say is true, Cynthia. I guess, if we are grumpy all the time, the face undergoes subtle changes accordingly and sort of form lines and wrinkles which indicates that grumpiness. And happy people do have plenty of smile lines, crows' feet from laughing. :)

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  8. Love the topic. Faces can reveal so much about the character of a person. As you rightly said, age can be masked, but the eyes give away everything!

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    1. Thank you for the visit and the kind words Richa! Yes, eyes are where the real action is. :)

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  9. The eyes, I believe, are a window to the soul. Lovely post! :)

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  10. I love observing people too Prathima. I can sit for hours studying people. I once sat at Bombay Central for nearly 6 hours just looking at people. I had no train to catch, I was not under compulsion to be there. I sat there for the sheer joy of looking at people as they rushed about. I don't think many are aware how communicative their faces are. The look that passes between strangers, the smile which goes from one pair of loving eyes to another.... it really is fascinating and beautiful. I hope I don't sound weird! :)

    Dagny

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    1. You don't sound weird at all, Dagny. I can almost imagine you sitting & observing. I do that all the time where people are around. It's so relaxing to be an observer, form little theories and see if they turn out right which means that your observation and understanding of human nature is spot on! That further strengthens your observation powers. If you think you sound weird, then you have solid company in me :)

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  11. I love watching people and wondering about the story behind the face. Great post.

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    1. Thank you Piper George! It's an interesting thing to do, isn't it?

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