Raise your Eyebrows

Stop for a while. Take a deep breath; relax..., and ask yourself this question: What do you first look at when you see yourself in the mirror? Is it your fair and lovely skin, that quirky smile on your lips, the dark circles, or those protruding pimples? 

Nevermind!

Mirrors of my home confide a different story... For me, I just glance at my eyebrows and meticulously groom them. The assurance they are in good shape gives me a sense of relief and boosts my confidence. And that is not the end of it; when I shampoo my hair, I caress them tenderly so they stay fine and dandy always. With time, I have realized my eyebrows are well suited to my slender face accompanying high cheekbones. They are acutely thick and dark enough to be admirable or near-admirable. 

Howsoever, this love for eyebrows was not innate. It originated in a Mime class, which I had inadvertently ascribed to during my sophomore year. Our mentor, Gourang, a generous, bald man in his forties, told us to continuously work on our expressions to perform better on the stage. He categorically said the more you work on your expressions, the better they will get with time. He explained intricate details as to when eyebrows go up & semi-oval, they signify a happy face & likewise, when they go down, they imply a sad connotation and so on...' As far as I remember, my friend, Shubham, could even express sarcasm by slightly raising his right eyebrow. It was so glib and enjoyable. Thanks to practicing during those days, I gradually became adept at expressing feelings through eyebrows but later on made a couple of mistakes during the stage performance - similar to the situation where I make silly mistakes in calculation-intensive exams.

Well, a long time has passed since that, and now, it was during the lockdown imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic I stumbled upon the TV series 'The Office (US version),' which again got me thinking about the beauty of eyebrows. In it, paper salesman Jim Halpert (the character admiringly played by our beloved John Kraisaiki) raises his eyebrows mockingly whenever the camera turns towards him, and instantaneously, he becomes the center of attraction. I tend to admire his eyebrow movements. Seeing him rekindled my long-lost love for eyebrows.

I mean, there's no denying that eyebrows are beautiful irrespective of any face. They are like the cherry on the cake or a feather on the cap. Nonetheless, in the midst of exaggeratingly ruminating about color, tanning, dark circles, and other much less excusable conspicuous features, we have long undermined our very eyebrows. I am yet to find a person with disgusting eyebrows in life, and don't you think that the world would be a better place if people knew to improvise their eyebrows to convey their feelings. After all, in these ludicrous times of face masks (COVID-19 era), isn't it through other person's eyebrows that we decode their feelings. Thus, if there's one thing people need to act upon, it is to work on their eyebrows.

Also, one of my female friends once commented I always have unique expressions for every situation. Perhaps, it is one of the best compliments I have received in life. And over time, I have realized raising eyebrows is a routine but underrated activity... but mind you, it's an arduous task. There's so much skill, art, and craft involved in raising or mending one's eyebrows. One has to be sure not to appear over dramatic or under sympathetic. One should be able to convey scores of feelings, from happiness to sadness, from fear to astonishment, from melancholy to serenity, from oxymoron to hyperbole, and much more... (sigh!)

If eyes are the path to the heart, then eyebrows are windows to the soul. If you ask me, there should be aggressive research on the benefits of raising eyebrows. More and more should be done. Psychologists should study the psychological effects of raising eyebrows regularly. Jack Dorsey should renounce his wealth in such research. Until then, in case you find yourself with nothing to do, stop for a moment, relax..., and raise your eyebrows ^ ^ maybe life will seem a little more worth living!