Reflections

She stood in front of the mirror and observed her reflection. The large dark brown eyes looked at her without any trace of emotion. Those eyes had seen it all- the joys and sorrows of living. Many a time they had been the messengers of a multitude of emotions that flowed through them. The very fine crow’s feet adorning the corners of her eyes brought back the memories of hearty laughter enjoyed in moments of total abandon. But the strength of her gaze told the story of moments of extreme sorrow which have silently found expression in there.

The long curly eyelashes that used to be cast down on the blushing youthful cheeks were no more. The eyes, it seemed, no longer required those beautiful boundaries to safe guard them from the grime of the outside world.

The two arch-like eyebrows were still thick and black. It gave a powerful personality to her broad face making it steer miles away from the fickleness found in the most common-place faces. They were never trimmed to guise the true passion hidden in them. They were still furrowed when her well endowed head was populated with academic as well as worldly thoughts.

Here was her most favourite feature in her entire face. Her nose. It was decidedly a sharp-tipped right angled triangle whose shape reminded one of the math genius Pythagoras and his hypotenuse. The tip was now beakier and formed a delightful silhouette on the walls when she lighted the evening candles.

A sudden breeze brought a gypsy smile to her tiny but expressive mouth. A smile that was laced with bitterness. Was it the unforgettable memory of an ‘it-might-have-been’ thought? Or was it the indifference with which she handled the disappointments that were all she had experienced till middle age?

He, too, had come into her life like a zephyr- so pleasant as long as he lasted. Those moments of joy were here prized possessions. Those were the only happy memories which she wanted to take with her from this material world when the ultimate, inevitable call would be made from above.

The laugh lines told so much about her general disposition. Yet the mouth looked strong without a touch of pink in the lips. She had never been interested in the artificial adornments even as a teenager.

Ah! Youth…How it pampers our vanity and makes us think that external beauty is eternal. The transient beauty of youth is like a rainbow. It is lovely as long as it lasts. It fades when the rain of desire stops and the all-knowing sun of knowledge illuminates the soul, making it richer in internal beauty.

She had let her hair loose as she was past the routine ritual of running the comb through it. Nobody cared for her dying beauty. The sun was setting now. The warm, dying, red-gold rays of the sun hued her rippling hair a rich crimson, giving her an unearthly look. She was still standing in front of the omniscient mirror with a million unspoken words. There was no one to listen save her own reflection. The sun finally sunk into the west, plunging the world gradually into darkness…just like her lonely life.