Behind the veil

Views from the other side

Recently, one of email buddies sent me a powerpoint presentation on the ordeals of the ladies behind the meshed veil of the burqa had to endure in a male dominated society all in the name of man's own interpretation of the religion. Their voices are muffled by the sobbing sounds of their unheard cries in the dark.
That got me thinking.... 
In fact, in our own everyday world close to us, there are many amongst us who walk around putting up a front covering the sorrows that they carry behind the mask that they wear on their faces. Just like they say in show business, "Honey, the show has to go on!", life has to go on...

Norman Bates & Bates Motel

I know a general practitioner, who is forever ready with his pearly-white teethed smile, was diagnosed with cancer of the urinary bladder about 2 years previously. He is still smiling these days after enduring 12 hours of radical surgery, nauseating chemotherapy afterwards, losing erectile and ejaculatory functions, losing his bladder and uses a stomal bag for urinary functions. And he is still practicing medicine to treat others as well as to provide for his young family.
Just like a lady that I know  who only moves in high society, attending one party after another. Her younger sister is an equally high heeled jet trotting executive in a successful multinational company. The youngest sibling, unable to live up to the sisters' mark lost the rat race and was labelled a schizophrenic. Struggling to manage himself, he needs the help of his ailing mother for guidance. But how long? So much of anxiety...
So the next time when you are in a situation where someone is hogging the road and you are in a hurry, take a step back and ponder. You do not know what hopeless situation he may be in. His wife could have died or something worse. You do not know what trouble he is in. Maybe you do not want to be in his shoes.

A happy man

Or the annoying man who is talking on top of his voice in a school concert in an unknown language. May be it is not because he lacks common phone etiquette or common sense, he may be in hot soup. Like they say, "I was complaining that I have no nice shoes to wear till I saw a man with no legs!"
Everybody wears a mask to face the real world. Do you seriously think that the runners-up in the Miss World is all joy and smiles for losing the crown or the worker who laughs it away when his boss reprimands him?
We want everything to be perfect for us but in reality we have to live with the imperfection that is endowed upon us and to get the best out of the less than perfect to newer heights.