One day, in a heavily crowded place, a young man began shouting.

"People, look at me. I have the most beautiful heart in the world."

Many people looked at him and were stunned to see his beautiful heart in a perfect shape, without any flaw. It looked quite amazing. Most of the people who saw his heart were mesmerized by the beauty of his heart, and praised him.

However, there came an old man who challenged the young man, "No my son, I have got the most beautiful heart in the world!"

The young man asked him, "Show me your heart, then!"

The old man showed his heart to him. It was very rough, uneven, and had scars all over. In addition, the heart was not in shape; it appeared like bits and pieces joined in various colours. There were some rough edges; some parts were removed, and fitted with other pieces.

The young man started laughing, and said, "My dear old man, are you mad? See, my heart! How beautiful and flawless it is. You cannot find even a bit of imperfection in my heart. See, yours? It is full of scars, wounds, and blemishes. How can you say your heart is beautiful?"

"Dear boy, my heart is just as beautiful as your heart is. Did you see the scars? Each scar represents the love I shared with a person. I share a piece of my heart with others when I share love, and in return I get a piece of heart, which I fix at the place from where I have torn a piece!" said the old man.

The young man was shocked.

The old man continued, "Since the pieces of heart I shared were neither equal nor in the same shape or size, my heart is full of uneven edges and bits and pieces. My heart is not in shape because sometimes I do not get love in return from those to whom I gave it. Your heart that looks fresh and full with no scars indicates that you never shared love with anybody. Isn't that true?"

The young man stood still and did not speak a word. Tears rolled down his cheeks. He walked to the old man, tore a piece of his heart and gave the piece to the old man.

Many give importance and respect to physical beauty. Yet, real beauty is not physical!