Yes DEAR: 27 - 31 July 2009 : Looks can be deceiving

Fat and grimy, short and slimy was Pankaj, the abominable school boy. Everyone grimaced when he prodded along the school corridors, even teachers. Very few went near and even fewer spoke to him. Pankaj had absolutely no friends and no guardian. He lived with his grandmother and played alone.

Only because he looked a tad unlike other humans. He had hair all over his body and his face, an angular nose, his extra two teeth that hung over the others looked felony when he smiled. His looks were so viscous that everyone preferred to stay away from him. And so Pankaj grew up alone, isolated only with his grandmother for company.

When he was out of school he fetched some work for himself as he did not want to go through all the trials of being poked at in college. His peers Rajan and Rahul who gave him nightmares with incessant ragging went on to college like the other boys in his class. Soon Pankaj’s grandmother expired, leaving him completely alone. Pankaj moved out of the locality to another state for work. After a bit of searching, he was employed in a local factory at a measly sum, even lower than the others at his level. All because he looked ugly.

But it did not matter to Pankaj, so he worked hard and worked long. Soon it came to the notice of his seniors that he was much smarter than the others in his department. Mending tools and fixing pipes were a piece of cake for him. Often he was sent outside the factory to repair the broken machines and fix pipes. Once a drain had been choked, and all the water from the factory sewage was flowing back into the factory. The best of engineers rummaged their head to fix it, but in vain. When somebody mentioned Pankaj, he was summoned to fix the damage. Within an hour Pankaj had everything under control; he not only fixed the drain, but also cleaned the stench and cleared the area.

This deed made him the cynosure of every officer. Soon he was promoted as his expertise matched that of an engineer. His immediate boss Laxman was kind hearted and calm. He saw the intelligent twinkle in Pankaj but also caught the shadow of isolation. Once Laxman called Pankaj to his cabin and asked him if he could give him a makeover. Pankaj agreed because he did not have much to lose, as in office too nobody would come close to him. His looks scared them all.

Laxman got all his excess hair shaved and waxed. The dentist managed to pluck out the dogteeth and the hairstylist cropped the hair with extreme caution but with trend in every snip. When Pankaj looked into the mirror, he was surprised to see the new himself. He no more looked vicious and horrid. He was now a handsome looking lad. His colleagues grew envious of him, his seniors now admired him. The next raise and promotion was not far away.

Soon Pankaj was sent on an assignment to his childhood hometown. Nobody recognized him there too, even when chanced upon his old school mates Rajan and Rahul; they had no clue that he was their childhood victim. But when Pankaj’s helped the fireman shut the water leak that led to flooding, people began to praise him. Soon his real identity was known and everyone was taken aback to see a swan rise from an ugly duckling. From then on, Pankaj enjoyed the rest of his days as any other human being.

Moral: Do not judge a person by his looks alone.