Intrinsic worth more important than looks

Last Sunday evening I watched a talk show in Tamil called Neeya Nanna (meaning-You or Me) and the topic for discussions was Judgment of a person by their appearance. Quite an interesting topic to be discussed but the quality of the discussions by some of the participants was much to be desired for certain incidents narrated by them were childish and irrelevant. One of the participants stated that though she has cleared the technical interviews and group discussions in company she was overlooked by the HR in favor of a beautiful looking girl who hardly talked anything during the interview. Other person said that he was overlooked for a job because of his skin color, the other stating because he was fat and so forth. Listening to many participants about their negative experiences  on being judged by appearance was the catalyst to this blog.

We are taught not to Judge others by their appearances and there is an old adage warning “Do not judge a book by its cover “and yet many people cannot help but submit to their first impression of a person in their judgment which is done within a minute of meeting the person. Appearances drive us and it affects every judgment we make. We are taught to look as good as possible so that we are judged positively in all fields be it for an interview or a social event. Yet intrinsic value of the person is what the people have to look for and that is most important. Looks may matter in certain job portfolios but then it is the knowledge base which would reap the benefits and in the present day scenario is difficult for a company to sustain by employing persons on their looks alone.

Judgment by looks is very much prevalent in the society and person not confirming to some preconceived notions are more likely to be rejected and experience problems, like mockery or even discrimination. I have heard of parents telling their children “do not associate with XYZ since he or she looks like a person of bad character”. A stigma is being attached to a person without even knowing the person. Recently was traveling in an auto and we witnessed an accident on the way and the auto driver stated that people who break traffic rules, jumping of signals are north Indians or similarly up north it is that Madrasi do not create any problems. It is wrong on both counts for I personally know of various instances both here in Chennai and in New Delhi where it was quite the opposite.

One of the panelist on the show blind from his birth has encountered mockery discrimination throughout his life span because of his disabilities and in spite of the discouragement he has done his masters has risen to be a principal of a College. His determination to excel and prove himself to the world stands out in the crowd and he said that “discrimination is the mile stone to his success”. I hope that people who feel discriminated for having been judged based on appearance do not despair or lose confidence in themselves instead raise up to the challenge and prove their worth in their field.

Your thoughts on this topics please !!!!!