Pretty = Dumb???

A mid week evening out at an old Bangalore restaurant. I am in the midst of reviewing colours, pictures and designs with my designer friend Ranjit, when the phone buzzes urgently. A friend who is out at dinner demands that I call her and extricate her from an awkward situation. Earlier on, she had mentioned that a long time friend of hers, now a married man with a passel of brats to his credit, had all at once attained enlightenment and realised that she, my friend, was the love of his life. Not wanting to loose a good friend, she had agreed to meet him over dinner to let him down gently and send him back to his dutiful wife and family.

Now, I do not derive any pleasure in being a modern day Cassandra but there are times when the voices in my head are particularly insistent and are almost always right. I had warned her about the futility of her mission but had to bow in submission when confronted with impassioned pleas of wanting to save an old association. So I allowed her to recruit me to step in, if things did not go the way she envisaged it would. And now, this call right in the middle of a rather relaxed but productive evening.

In any case, I dutifully I called her. And within minutes, was on my way to rescue her from her ardent admirer.
Later on, curled on her couch with a glass of fine Merlot, I quiz her about her evening.
" So, what happened?"
" mmm...well, the evening started off fine..we spoke about work, the happenings in the world around us, family issues, politics at work and in the family...stuff like that...and then he got all nostalgic and started reminiscing about the good old times when he and I were single but not in love"
' And???'
"And then he went on to say that was the time he should have fallen in love with me and we should have hooked up to see if we worked as a couple...I tried telling him that it was a bad idea because we were way too demanding to have been compatible..But he wouldn't get off the topic or even listen!!! He says marriage is rather overrated, restrictive and that he was glad his wife didn't question him too much about his movements or his activities..And then he was trying to envision how life would have been if we had hooked up....Can you imagine?? I mean, he has no idea how miserable the two of us would have been if we had hooked up"
My friend is obviously rather distraught. But, I cannot hide a smirk.
My friend, though an adorable person, is not exactly wife material. So, for a moment, I couldn't help but wish that her admirer could have his dream come true for a day, just so that he could go back to his wife with greater gratitude and appreciation.
But the flood gates are now open and my rather amusing train of thought is arrested.
'I can't imagine how his wife allows him so much freedom. I just don't understand it. I mean she doesn't have half the brains or looks that I have....And yet, she doesn't mind..." Her indignant voice trails off into uncertainty...
And then lightening struck.... With a look of sheer horror, she asks " Do you think that just because I am good looking she, or anyone else for that matter, thinks I am brainless??? I mean there is so much of hype in India, about women having to be fair, good looking, demure and God knows what not...So do people at large actually think that a pretty woman is grey cell deficient???"
Her question manages to divert my attention from my wine!!!....No mean feat that, I assure you...
This sounds so much like the Chicken and Egg riddle....Did the dumb blond syndrome come to India with Vasco Da Gama??? Or is it India's bequest to the world along with Yoga and the Curry?