Beauty Tips From An Accountant –Lesson 2

As recruitment consultants we get strange requests at times. But this one was fairly straight. The CEO of a middle-sized company wanted a beautiful woman for his front office. The only thing odd about the mandate was the undue stress laid on ‘beauty’. ‘The candidate has to be strikingly beautiful. Other specs like qualification and experience can be relaxed for this.’ In fact the emphasis was so much that my colleague Kanchana even smelt some rat that was not there. (‘Boss, I don’t think the client’s intentions are honourable’)

My team set out to work on the mandate. I was asked to the see the final round-up of two candidates before they were sent to the client for an interview. I stole a glance at the waiting candidates and then summoned Kanchana. “That girl dressed in a white sari is quite stunning. But the other one in brown chudidhar….. not even passable.”

“Just see them boss and then decide.”

I called in the white sari first. She was Sneha, very tall (5’ 7” ?) and with a matching figure and sharp features, she was a stunner. Even my middle aged heart skipped a beat. I asked her to describe herself. But the moment she opened her mouth I was in for a rude shock. Her language was awful, her diction very poor, her manner of speech betrayed her poor upbringing. I made her talk about her ambition, her strengths and even her husband. She made it clear that her husband did not deserve her and her ambitions were as listless as her language. Her beautiful appearance now appeared jarring and I could not stand her presence any longer. I cut short the interview, sent her out and asked the other girl to come.

Priya was short, slightly on the plump side. Seeing her at close quarters I thought she would merit second glances from passers by. Her smile enhanced her looks. But her real beauty came out when she spoke. When she described herself there was neither arrogance nor false modesty. The language was at her command and it looked as if the words were waiting to be summoned by her. The grace with which she spoke without hurting or demeaning any one and the constant smile on her face now made her look passable.

I called in Kanchana who had sourced these candidates.

“The second girl is an ideal-fit but the client has insisted on ‘strikingly beautiful.’ The first one fills the bill there but I don’t think she can deliver the goods. I am afraid you need to look for some one who combines Sneha’s looks and Priya’s personality.”

“Boss, why don’t we let the client decide? I’ll send them both.”

The client called me in the evening. I was sure he was going to reject both of them. I was in for a surprise.

“I am hiring Priya straightaway. You know some thing. She is the most beautiful woman on my premises. But the other woman you sent, My God, she was awful. She was strikingly beautiful, no doubt, till the moment she opened her mouth.”

Dear beauties, who have graciously signed up for this course, now the homework for you is to deduce the learnings from this incident. As soon as we are through we will have a brief sum-up before we move on to lesson 3.

Varalotti

 

Thanks,Early Bird!

Sharada, you are one of my brightest students. Of course all my students are bright, no doubt about it. You were the first to stand up and answer.
Now as I said earlier when we learn we need to go to the extremes, define the boundaries and then learn the unending gray shades in between. That's why the characters of this lesson - Sneha and Priya - like their predecessors - Neha and Bhavani - are in the extremes.
What you said about Priya is right. Now let's wait for the other beauties (I fully agree that all ladies of IL are intelligent, beautiful and all of them are combinations of Sneha and Priya)
varalotti

 

Thanks For Joining In, Vidhukumar

This snippet is a real life experience. As a writer I find God the most creative and the most imaginative person I've ever known. See, this incident happened in real life and very few writers could have conjured up such an incident. Much of beauty comes out in the way we talk and we interact with others. A lady who is so preoccupied with her make-up, hair-do or lipstick will not have time to genuinely listen to others. She'll become shallow and arrogant and then lose her beauty as Sneha did.
thanks for the reply, Vidhukumar. Also see lesson 1 and give your reply too.
sridhar

 

A Sobering Response!

The problem with Sneha is not the lack of training. It's a mindset that thinks that no training is necessary as she is very beautiful. Life would have been much easy if we can gather up all snehas and put them in a finishing school. But persons like Snehas never admit that they need training eventhough they look very beautiful.
Ambika, there is no need for the word "humble" in the title. You are a defiant student, agreed. But never dull.
sridhar

 

Time To Sum Up and Move On!

Dear Beautiful Ladies,
Thanks once again for your enthusiastic participation. Now it's time to sum up and move on. It would be highly presumptuous on my part to tell you how to speak and how not to, as I know all of you are beauties, internally and externally. But as a HR consultant who has interviewed thousands for job I can say some common pitfalls which beauties need to avoid. Well in the example I have given Sneha appears rude. Many take this lesson strongly that they swing to the other extreme of being over-polite, to the point of hurting their self esteem. If beauty is begging, it's no beauty. Or soon it will cease to be one. When you talk your confidence and courage should come out. While you should be courteous there is no need to be in a begging mode, especially if you are facing a job interview. In as much you need a job, the employer needs you. The need is mutual. But if you show that your need is greater, you have already lost the race.
Another subtle point I have noticed with very beautiful women especially when they are with their peers is their condescension. To condescend means looking at the other person as below your status, to speak as if a queen speaks to her subjects. I know quite a lot of women like that. They would be polite and courteous. And if you quote their words people would say 'how nice, how sweet' etc. But if you actually listen to them in flesh and blood you will find their attitude disgusting. They will have a 'holier than - thou' or more appropriately a 'better than thou' attitude in their bearing and in their talking. Nothing could irritate us more than this attitude. And it would leave a very bitter after-taste in the person after these 'beautiful' people leave the scene. And the other person when he goes to bed that night would tick off the 'beautiful' person as an arrogant person not fit for friendship.
The best antidote for this problem is to become less self-concious and being constantly aware of the fact, good looks or not, every one created by God is equally beautiful.
I want some responses, some additions, some modifications, some criticisms to these ideas before we move on.
Over to you, beautiful ladies,
sridhar

 

Shall We Move On?

Let's move on to Lesson 3 where we are going to see another feature that mars beauty.
varalotti