Solving La Gioconda

NST today published an article on a Monsieur Jacques Franck solving Mona Lisa's riddle. Well, at least how Senor Da Vinci managed to give the 3-D effect on the masterpiece.

For an art lover, I guess it's driven by the passion to solve the mystery. And it is such an accomplishment, well-deserved respect and awe from the rest of the world. However, I fear that once a mystery is solved, the riddle doesn't interest people anymore.

I'm not an art expert, far from being one. But I enjoy them. Don't ask me which Renaissance piece or which painter, I won't be able to answer. I just enjoy their beauty within my ignorance. I do not want to solve the mystery of why Da Vinci painted one side of the background for La Joconde bigger than the other side. I do not want to question why Van Gogh drew the famous Sunflower. I just appreciate the beauty. Quite naive, I know.

Mysteries and riddles always attract people from all layers of life. They make life more interesting and seem to have purpose, do they not? Even more interesting when we're discussing conspiracy theories such of Whitehouse and our very own September 1999 incident. They somehow push us to think the unthinkable.

Let's examine the most talked topic in town. Men vs women. Relationship. This is also a mystery, one that I hope no one will ever solve. Think about it, without the ongoing questions that cramp our minds about our partners and friends, life would be dull. Solving every single flaw/beauty of the people close to us actually make us closer. Even when we think we have started to understand our other half, we are not even close of solving their mystery. Such wonder. And truth be told, the intriguing factors were the things that made us attracted to them in the first place. That mysterious aura and enigmatic persona.

Most of the times we try to perform post mortem on our partners. But they are still alive. And this is where the hurt starts. We could sit down and have 'The Talk' for days, but we still cannot fit into each other's shoes. Even if they fit, we don't feel comfortable. Why? Because every one of us is different. One way or the other. Fact is, we know this. But we refuse to accept the simple truth slapped on our faces. We are determined to make the other person look at things the way we do. I see that colour as pink, but you might say it's fuschia. One person say the sky is blue but another fellow will tell you it's cotton patched.

Why this on going quest to understand people? We cannot do genaralisation. It's just not possible. What we can and should do, is appreciate the differences that we have and rejoice in them. There is always a meeting point, always that grey area which made black and white compatible. Life is not always clear cut. We see things differently, we think differently. God made men and women different for a reason. It's so as for us to complement each other. Not replacing one another. The sooner we get this through our thick skull, the better.

Let Mona Lisa smiles her secret smile for generations to come.

NOTE: Mona Lisa picture from Wikipedia. La Gioconda means "light hearted woman", another name for the painting.