Hint of a Sweet Squint?

Squint Eye:

A squint is a congenital defect of the eye which affects eye movements and gives one a cross-eyed look and distorts the overall visage of a person. Leaving lose hair dangling over the eyes from childhood as a fashion statement also leads to squint eyes during one’s teens. Diseases affecting the optical nerves also cause squint eyes. In certain cases a squint can be corrected by wearing special spectacles for a prolonged period during childhood.

Sweet Squint:

In many countries people consider a slight hint of a squint as a Sweet Squint– a Beauty Enhancer ! In Calcutta,

Image via Wikipedia

 the folks call it a “Lakshmi Tera” or a Sweet Squint. To know what a sweet squint is you only have to recollect the face and eyes of Jaqueline Kennedy, or better still Tom Selleck. Such a sweet squint can be noticeable only from certain facial angles. Whether such a sweet squint improves or hinders a person’s overall looks is a matter of personal opinion.

Types Of Squints:

Leaving aside the extremely cross-eyed squints which comedians like Charlie Chaplin perform, the other squints can be categorised into a. Sweet Squints, b. Close-to-the-nose Squints, and c. Wide-apart-squints. The more famous sweet squints belong to Goldie Hawn, Halle Berry, Helen Hunt, Sean Connery, Brigitte Bardot, Alec Guiness, David Niven, Gregory Peck, Salma Hayek, Penelope Cruz, Charlton Heston, Diane Keaton, Peter Sellers, Charlie Sheen, Asha Parekh, Hema Malini, Babita, Karisma Kapoor, Aamir Khan and Clint Eastwood. The close-to-the-nose squint or look is sported by many like Adam Sandler, Barbara Streisand, Anthony Quinn and Hugh Grant. The wide-apart-squint or look is seen in one of the most popular faces on TV– Oprah Winfrey, the other one is Kofi Annan. U Thant had a bad squint and Albert Einstein had that peculiar Scientist’s eye. David Letterman gets a squint when he puts his hands into the trouser pocket !

Conclusion:

Does a squint matter really? So long you can see with the eyes and the vision is not distorted–double images, shadows etc., seeing is everything, seeing is believing. Vision is God’s gift. Let us look at the world and enjoy our sights so long we are alive. After death, let us pledge to donate our eyes so that the less fortunate ones can also see.