Tag: smile

Spreading a little Happiness

From all the trips that I’ve done till now, the one last year to Pondicherry has been the best yet. Reasons ? Well I have a lot of em.

This happened to be my first solo trip. I was excited to finally get something off my bucket list. I loved the whole experience of what it brought along with it. Travelling around to explore something new. Meeting people, trying out new cuisines and spending time without having to worry about time itself. Interestingly, the Pondicherry tourism tagline goes by, “Give time a break”. And I did.

During my stay, I was roaming around the town on a bicycle as well as a Vespa on the two days. On the second day, when I had pretty much roamed around the place, was left with time and petrol to spare.

One person, a middle-aged man, was asking for lift to passerby. I stopped my bike close to him. Happily, he boarded the bike and said something in Tamil. After having established that I knew none of it. Except of course Tamil Terriyadu (which means I don’t know Tamil). We conversed in a little broken hindi which he knew, surprisingly. He thanked me for that and I moved on.

Although it was just a start. When you’re driving you can see a lot many asking for lift. In strange and peculiar ways sometimes. Some do the standard waving, while others excitedly wave around to catch attention.

I again met this young lad, clad in a lungi who asked me for lift. We talked a little where he was surprised as to why I was travelling alone. Yes, I get that a lot too. And due to some reasons, I’ve not been able to travel alone much. He enquired about my stay and whether I liked his town or not.

I was almost on my way back, where I met this teenager. Torn jeans and sadly not for his fashion sense, but actually torn, without any shoes or slippers walking along. Occasionally turning back to see if someone stops their vehicle to reduce his effort to walk back home. Or to wherever he meant to be taken to.

I stopped and he was almost expressionless at that time. I signaled him to hop on, which he did and finally put on a little smile. He knew a little English, so we talked. I asked him about what he does to which he replied that he was a daily wage labor and usually heads back home at this time. From what we could talk, it was not very clear because of the language issue. I took out my camera and told him to pose for it, which he was very reluctant to. He then offered to take a picture of me in my camera. Even though I had to teach him on handling the camera, he did take one.

This picture was clicked by the him..

This picture was clicked by him..

 

Having clicked me, he was happy. As if he has learnt something new. He returned me the camera and shaking hands he went away. I was waiting for the signal to turn Red,  while I saw him dancing happily and running into the lane.

I was smiling. It felt good. A different kind of good.

This Entry is part of the #LookUp Stories series by Housing.com in association with Indiblogger.

Smile- coz, it costs nothing!!

Standing at the door, with winds gushing through my hairs and striking my face on its way out, while I stand there holding the yellow handle-bars tightly on each side of the train. Linkin Park shouting out loud from the earphones. And yes, not resisting shouting myself out, without caring what other co-passengers might think. One other thing that I was doing is, smiling and waving at people next to the track.

It sounds silly, right ?

But the best part was, people would reciprocate back with the same smile.

Although, I must add that my smile was not without a reason. The reason was the train, which was taking me home for a vacation. But I came to know about one important thing that day. More than knowing, it was reiterating the fact that Smile is the best thing that a person can do for himself and others, without putting much of an effort.

Smile is when, after an Indian win in Cricket, your face naturally comes out with one. Smile is when you remember some crazy incident from your school life. Smile is when you get a message that bank account has been credited with your salary.

But does, smile have to come for a reason?? No, it shouldn’t be dependent on factors like that. Let it flow without a reason, because it costs nothing my friend.

The benefits of a smile are immense. It not only ensures that you get a return at the same time, but also makes sure to create an aura of friendliness around you.

It is required almost everywhere. To start off, our innocence as a child which was displayed by it and how elders used to be crazy for our smiles, when our toddler little versions used to give them smile. Remember that Dhara advertisement? or ads with cute little kids in it selling diapers to baby oil??

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Growing up, don’t you remember how your first crush had the best smile in the world?? It’s another thing how that smile used to fade away from your face, when you saw them talking to others!! 😛

Looking at the health benefits of smiling, Smiling Releases Endorphins, Natural Pain Killers and Serotonin which together makes us feel good. Not only that, our immune system is boosted by the same and it acts as a great stress buster too.

Well, counting and telling you about its benefit are not my task, or I rather not make it one. Thing is, there are of course times, when we are so down that just to move some muscles in our face (i.e. smile) seems to be a herculean task, which our mood doesn’t permit us to do. But if we really think hard, and analyze, do we really want to stay in that mood for long??

So, what stops us from smiling??

Nothing!

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So, if it doesn’t then try spreading one, because believe me this is something that is contagious. You smile at others, they smile back. It’s a nexus, much more like yawning (try saying Y-A-W-N-I-I-N-G) and no one will advise you to do away with this habit.

Now, as a start, smile after reading this post, and let me know about it. After all, even I deserve some smiles, don’t I?? 🙂

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