Coming face to face with a lookalike.

This is an article by my wife which she wrote after sighting a ‘portrait – drawing’ at an Art Gallery, I found it interesting and I am posting it here for my blog, twitter and facebook friends:

Coming face to face with a lookalike brings about astonishment and smiles…it happened to me twice. The first time was years ago at a wedding. I was at the wedding from the bride’s side and this lookalike was the groom’s elder sister. My relatives were surprised to see this lookalike and pointed out to me. I was astonished and smiled at this similarity. It is not that she resembled me entirely, she was a little elder to me, stout and a little taller, but when it comes to our faces I must say she resembled me by about 75 percent. Anyone who has not seen me for long would mistake her for me.

This lookalike feature was the talk of the wedding among relatives from both sides and I had a cheerful conversation with her. This glaring similarity was noticed by many as both of us were playing a major role in the wedding ceremonies, she as the groom’s sister and me as a close relative of the bride who was responsible for this wedding, at the request of the bride, against the interest of elders in both families.

This is when the talk of similar looking people came up and the belief in several communities and countries of the world; that there are 7 people who more or less look like us somewhere in the world.

I met this lady once again at a function at her brother’s house a few years later and she looked different. We have both aged by then and she a little faster.

And this happened once again recently at an Art Gallery. It was not a person but a sketch. From a distance I and my husband were astonished to see this portrait, a sketch which resembled me, even my spectacles! A closer view showed only about 40 percent resemblance (you can see this portrait at the top of this article). Curious to know whose portrait it is, we got in touch with the painter and he told us that he made few such portraits casually to showcase his art for making portraits of those interested. He tried to sell it to me but I declined. I would have bought it if it looked much closer to me.

Now I have the option of getting my portrait sketched or painted by this artist, but that would not be thrilling, like seeing another person who looks like me.

- N. Lalitha Raghu.