Glamour
All around, there was chatter, the voices of cameramen, the sound of people lifting and placing iron equipment from here to there, the daily gossips of makeup artists... and right in the middle of all that sat me. The intense light of the burning bulbs was falling directly on my face. While my curls were being set, the buzzing heat coming from the dryer and the smell of cosmetic chemicals filled my nose.("I sat there like a statue—neither able to move this way nor that. Even speaking felt frightening. I could only hope it would end soon, so I could finally rise from that chair.")
(There was this version of me—surrounded completely by glamour on the outside; and sitting deep within the quietness, thinking about sharpening her own inner intellect, was another me that no one know. hands folded, a black glitter-shining dress, bold makeup, and a feminine posture with one leg crossed over the other—this was just one form of mine.)
A heavy voice echoed from outside the dressing room, "Hedy, the shoot is starting in 10 minutes, hurry up!"
The woman who had been bestowed with the title of "The Most Beautiful Woman in Europe." Panic was written across everyone's faces because a tiny section of the hair was still left... but with everyone's collective cooperation, that too was completed.
("I often wonder," how beautiful these lights are. When Sir Alexander invented light, how proud he must have felt? Tonight, even in the premiere, we can see how these lights falling on the face cause the skin's tiny pores to absorb them entirely.")
Hedy stood up from her makeup chair. A long yawned to stretch his still muscles caused by sitting for too long. Outside was the grand movie premiere. All media and photographers had their eyes fixed on her shimmering dress, which added even more grace to her stunning face.
"Mam, this pose please! Mam, this one!"
(Voices were coming from so many directions at the exact same time that I couldn't figure out who to answer and who to ignore. The light from the flashes above was so blindingly intense that it felt as if today I might actually go blind.
Changing pose on request or more like demand.
When I lifted my chin to look up at the sky, something stirred deep within me—a starlit night filled with glimmering stars. While everyone else was seeing a star right in front of them, capturing them with their flash cameras, I was also looking at a star above me, capturing it with my own eyes. The reflection in her eyes matched the gaze of the stars. How wide this sky is, and the stars. They are all connected to each other even though they are so far apart, yet I still can't see them all in the same place. How admirable.)
"Mam, please look in front of you."
The man’s voice was filled with sharpness—not a request, but a display of dominance and a direct order.
(I kept my gaze in front, smiled through pain knowing it hurts how he asks. But that's how life works. People mold you however they want, not because they feel sympathy towards you or your works. But because they are molding you into things that are aligned with their inner conflicts and thoughts.
I became the star of the night. The glamorous world of Hollywood where your face should only be associated with acting—besides that, nothing matters.)
Thud thud
The footsteps approached——
Clara entered the dressing room. The only person she close enough to share about her ideas. She approached hedy and leaned against the table. “What are you doing , Hedy?” Clara leaned against Hedy’s shoulder to get a better look at her notes.
Finally, the long, exhausting day in the blinding studio lights comes to an end, and Hedy can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Yet, even as the quiet of the dressing room settles in, Hedy's mind keeps jumping back and forth across those doodles. Clara snaps her fingers right in front of Hedy's face, gently pulling her out of her deep zone of thought.
"Oh, sorry, I was just daydreaming. By the way, why aren't you going to eat with the crew?" Hedy asks.
Clara narrows her eyes playfully toward her. "You want me out of here?"
Hedy quickly places her hands on Clara's shoulders, tapping them lightly. "I didn't mean it that way. I just meant I'm busy, but at least you should go eat."
Clara leans back again, a long yawn escaping her. "Nah, I'm good. I'm far more interested in your work. To be honest, seeing the way people outside treat women like nothing more than maids... I think I see a bit of myself in you, wanting to do something out of the ordinary."
Hearing those raw thoughts from Clara makes Hedy wonder deeply: What would happen if I can't find a way? What would happen if I can't present it properly? A whirlwind of doubts spins inside her head. But right after hearing those encouraging words, Hedy feels a surge of motivation to push her research even further.
"Okay, you can stay if you want. Or maybe you can help me make some copies of these, so if I lose them anywhere, I'll have another set ready," Hedy replies with a confident smirk.
"Really?" Clara looks up, thrilled to be an active part of what Hedy is building. Without a single hesitation, she picks up the paper and a blank sheet, and immediately starts writing.
Here look at this part right here,” hedy murmurs, her pen hovering over the paper like bees buzzing on flowers before pressing down to sketch a series of interconnected, jagged waves. Clara scratched her head in confusion, dangling question marks Visible on top of her head, but she is focused to learn something.
“Everyone think radio signal is just a single path, a straight line travelling through the air from point A to point B but that makes It so easy for someone else to intercept ,to block, or to jam entirely. It’s like playing a single note on a piano over and over again, anyone can figure out the rhythm and draw it out”.
Clara notices that her eyes shining with every sentence; she has seen her face up close a lot of time but never witnessed the glimmer quite the same as it is now while she is describing it. Hedy, noticing her distraction, flicks her on the forehead.
“You listening or not”?
Ouch. Clara flinched. “I’m … I’m listening!”
hedy playfully give her a half-lidded stare.
she continued——
“Okay, so next—— what if instead of staying on one frequency, the transmitter and the receiver could hop together? What if they changed channels constantly, synchronously, bouncing across a whole spread of frequencies in a pattern only they knew? Like a player piano roll. the music changes chords continuously, so anyone trying to listen in just hears static while the real message passes through untouched completely safe.
Clara carefully listen while watching the paper filled with numbers, keys, lines, and gears. Now whole thing started to make sense . Hedy watches the way Clara’s expression shifts from casual curiosity to absolute awe. A quiet validation warming her chest. She feels deeply pleased with her explanation. Then , her mood dims a few seconds later.
“What happened? It’s awesome.” Clara asks, trying to understand the sudden shift. “I know……. But I still don’t know how it will ever come to life.”
Clara taps her shoulder gently, if you can think it, then there must be a way —- or someone who can bring it into life too . so don’t give up .
the World outside was drowning in superficial beauty, inside the dressing room, two people were entirely absorbed in their thought's—— making strategies.
