Smiling in Tough Times

Jotting all the possibilities of an uncertain life and watching a shriveled golden butt of a rolling paper, I sat on a broken pave that was said to be built by a philanthropist.

Am ‘OMNI’ loaded with school kids passed by leaving dirt on the roads kissing the air around me and a little child was literally thrown out of the crowded cab. I smiled; he pondered and smiled at me again. The kids that made themselves comfortable at the back of the cab waved at me.

The little gesture relieved me of something I was rattling off my heads with. It was almost suffocating to hang out in the OMNI yet the children were happy. A child can teach a man in despair a lot of lessons. Many of the gestures these little angels make go unnoticed. I was surrounded by four children in my own house. However, I never saw what they did in their daily dose of doings. I never observed how they tackle ‘failure’ or ‘indifferent behavior’; the lexicon they might have been oblivion of.  What was next? I donned my  Sherlock hat and started looking around. 

10 minutes later…

One of my nieces came to me and then started a funny conversation:

Niece : Aley Chachu!! Mujh me naa bahut taakat agai hai

I : Kaise?

Niece : Dadi boli roti khaegi to taakat ayegi. Maine to 2 roti khali.

She showed her cute biceps and said these words in a conviction I hardly carried, with even one of the most empirical formula I remembered during my engineering. I was taken aback and I tried her to give her conviction a hard time. The conversation continued…

I : Kahan hai teri taakat?

Niece: Dikhau taakat.

I : Ha dikha.

She gasped one of my fingers in her tiny hands took me to the wooden table that was kept in the center of my room. She pushed the table hard and succeeded. Her eyes glared in victory.

Niece : Dekha chachu meri taakat!!!

I was almost blown with the simplicity in which she carried what she believed in at the age of 4. Honestly, I don’t have that mannerism in carrying off what I believe at 24.

I was feeling a little bit conscious now as the fundamental lessons of life were articulately present in kids who never knew what Algebra and Astrophysics was. And then came one of my cutest and youngest niece from the other room.She was giving her Nani a tough time by juggling things kept on the center table. She then fell and was hurt by the edge of the table. Her Nani went nuts and then started a heated conversation between two women, one of the ages 3 and 58.

Nani  (with all fire in her eyes) : Chali jaa yaha se hum nai rakhenge tujhe…!

I was startled. Had anyone would have said me this; I would have thrown my boot in front of his face and would have left the face, grumbling about never to come back.

Niece : Nai mai to tikne aayi hu yaha pe. Nai jaungi

Nani (In a higher pitch) : Nai chali jaa.

And then what my niece did was out of my worldly senses. She came close to her Nani and tried to entangle her (Nani) big tummy in her arms. She smiled and said:

Niece : Nai jaungi. Yahi rahungi…!!!

Looking at the gleam of innocence in her eyes, her Nani melted like an ice on a frying pan. She was almost in tears looking at the little kid. And I was lost in the thoughts of how easily can indifferent behavior be tackled.

Life seems tougher and is tough but some days can be made easier if we try and find reasons to smile. And yes smiling is contagious and chronic; just keep riding the virus it caused. 

It is simple to carry a smile, even in tough times…!Came across a song by Raghu Dixit. Sing with me:

“Aaj bhi tu dekhta hoga,

Kahin dur saatwan aasman,

Kaise khoya jaa raha hai apne aap me insaan,

Hey Bhagwan! Mujh ko tu zindagi dobara de de…!!!”

---Amit Purohit (The Lone Soldier)

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