I never forget unconventional people. And if they are funny & faceless, I would never. One such person I met last night during a wedding at Ghaziabad was altogether a different experience. I am still trying to look behind the mask he was wearing.

Yes! You got it right. He was a clown. Not like a typical Hindi Movie clown. Shall I call him a clown? Hmmm... Probably yes! He was between 20-25 years & wearing attire that resembled to Charlie Chaplin's dress. The coat was bit worn out & colour was faded. He had put up some white colour cosmetic colour on face with multiple layers and lips were coloured dark red. No moustache. His eyes appeared yellow, may be because of layered lotion on face. Holding the Charlie stick in one hand and waving other hand, he became center of attraction of crowd the moment he entered the marriage hall.

I spotted him immediately. He was smiling at everyone he was meeting. No one was spared. He was meeting everyone personally, holding hand to shake. His smile was typical. Closing eyes all of a sudden & making cheeks as broad as he could and again opening it within a moment, he was trying to mimic the legends of Chaplin. Some were looking at him with awe, others were happy to meet and rest felt it awkward. After all he was just a jester smiling at strangers in every possible manner.

His energy was commendable. As soon as he stepped up on dance floor, children who were dancing on floor stopped dancing. He was in charge of show now. He started tapping shoes on floor. Children were confused. Some ran away. He felt awkward. Wearing a mask could be scary. At the end he realized that he has disturbed the rhythm of floor. He withdrew.

For me, he was faceless. If I meet him tomorrow in market without makeup I could hardly recognize him. Probably, that could be one reason every clown wears a mask or puts some liner on face. Concealing your real self & jesting around people whom you could hardly make laugh without your liner is impossibly tough. I felt those liners are typical; if anyone put it on face he becomes a jester.

I felt pity for him after dance floor attempt he made. Soon groom party came to hall. He was there in middle to greet them. He went straight to congratulate groom. People clicked some snaps. He smiled, as usual. After all he was getting paid for keeping as broad smile as he could. Arduous job! Changing facial lines with every passing second. And if it is someone's marriage & you are in middle of it, it’s impossible.

He was portraying every mood of emotions on his face. Not even sadness is spared. How can someone be sad at one moment & smiling at next one? I really admire the ability of a jester to keep things under mask. Hiding real face is easy when you wear mask. But showing up fake face and that too smiling at others, needs great efforts. Probably, that is why there are only few jesters around. Nowadays when keeping a smile on your face has become very strenous, then forget about clown's smile. Who really knows was he happy or sad? For me, it was pity that many people around weren't responding his smile with a smile. He was greeted with bit of apprehension by those. Were they apprehensive about him or themsleves? I felt pity for them. Nowdays you need to reinvent new reasons to smile. Clown has become old & typically boring who could really make you laugh. Every smile had a reason, except Clown's.No one bothered really about him. He was just an ignored entity who made his presence felt occasionally. Otherwise, no one had time for him & there was hardly any room for his presence in a marriage.

While coming back, I was thinking about him all the way. Who he was? What circumstances forced him to take up such an odd profession? Does he really want to be a clown? How much does he get paid for it? Is it money & good food makes him smile or something else? Shall I be able to recognize the face behind cosmetics? What is his name? Oh! I was drowned by so many unanswered questions.

I know I am not going to find answers to any of those questions. It is highly unlikely. But given a chance to meet him again, I would love to meet him without his makeup. Not because, I want to know the true countenance behind the mask, but because it won’t be necessary for him to wear a synthetic smile. And then I could tell, I met someone with featureless silhouette and he was a clown.

Good Night!