Looks can kill. I recall telling a friend of mine way back in the early nineties that Michael Jackson hated himself for being black. I had based this statement on the late pop icon’s attempt to bleach his skin. Being an Indian I have been witness to our obsession with ‘ fair’ skin.

Now comes this report from a man who was friends with Jackson-
Skin ailment was a fib, Jackson didn’t want to be black: Jones
Pop legend Michael Jackson’s producer Quincy Jones has claimed that the singer lied about his skin condition and just “didn’t want to be black”.

The music mogul, who worked on Jackson’s Bad and Thriller albums, said the pair used to discuss the King Of Pop’s altering appearance and the latter had always put any changes down to a disease that lightened his skin from black to white, reports thesun.co.uk.

“I don’t believe in any of that bulls**t, no. No. Never. I’ve been around junkies and stuff all my life. I’ve heard every excuse. It’s like smokers - ‘I only smoke when I drink’ and all that bulls**t,” said Jones.

It’s a tragedy—this obsession with skin colour.
There is another obsession these days—the obsession with looks. Fed by media this urge to look good can be taken to extreme limits.

A friend of mine had an opportunity to work abroad for a few years. There she developed an urge to reduce weight . O n her return I saw her obsession with her weight. She was not obese and I failed to understand her anxiety.

She tried several drugs but to no avail. I advised her that any strategy other than diet control and exercise as recommended by doctors may do more harm than good, But she did not listen. She underwent a liposuction surgery in a Mumbai clinic and returned out of the O.T a pale shadow of her former self.
As she was brought out of the O.T. I saw what had happened. She died on the operation table.

Tragedies like these apart one can understand a person’s anxieties when one has some imperfections. But it is important to accept that nobody is perfect and even as we strive towards perfection one must accept oneself with one’s limitations.

It has been said that God has made everyone perfect. A hunchback challenged Osho—Rajnessh to justify this statement in the light of his hunched back. ‘You are a perfect hunchback’ replied Osho.

K.R.RAVI