Read Small Deed #3
Smile! Be it your CEO or a roadside beggar that your eyes meet. Don’t think to smile.
To smile is something age-old we keep hearing. The point in this post is to smile without discrimination. Most of us carry enough ethics to smile at friends and teachers during college and at colleagues and higher officials at work. How many times have we bothered to smile at a beggar, a house-keeping guy, a hotel server, a scavenger, a shop keeper, a bus driver, a biller, your maid or your car driver? I don’t see this happen at least in India. Somehow people celebrate an inner joy by having grumpy faces at these people.
There must be a route we take to office or college on a regular basis. Whether we take a walk, a bike or our car, we must be meeting few of these people in a day. Let’s smile at them for the sake that we meet them everyday.
There could be exceptions. Sometimes it could be unsafe as in a pretty girl smiling at a bus driver or a male biller or conditionally unnecessary like in to invite a underpriveleged kid to run behind you for money (These are pitiful attitudes that are already strongly rooted in India). But where we know it’s genuine, let’s smile. Whether it’s coming out of hypocrisy or of humility, let’s smile.
Of course, the other person might not have been waiting for you to smile at them. Neither this may uproot the discrimination we hold in our hearts. However such small acts of kindness gives ourselves a profound worthiness, a sense of gratitude to everyone around the place we live in, a small reason to keep your day smooth. Most important, as our children observe us they grow up with an understanding to value humans as humans beyond their status and profession.
Wishing that you may never have to fall short of smiles glaring at you wherever you travel along life!
Read Small Deed #5
P.S. Anything you think can be added here, please leave a comment or an email. It could be anything from removing waste from roadside to donating blood. Your suggestion will bear you a virtue and an acknowledgement in a new post.
Photo Courtesy – sonnyradio.com
I am at office, so wonderful to read this. today was the first day at office, and if i didn’t receive the warm smiles of welcome from all those i was introduced with today, i would not feel so warm, as right now. 🙂
It takes 14 muscles to smile (i think so! read so long back :P), and it really makes the other person feel a little loved a lot at home.
great blog!
i love your small deeds campaign like padmahari 🙂
Riya.
p.s: will somebody do me a small deed and find me a pg in indiranagar? :p
Hmmmm……so you get paid for reading blogs in office …uhh??? Exactly like me!!!;) Yes I do remember the 14 muscles stuff. And Ive read about different categories of smiles too. It’s funny that there are more cracks than us to spend time in such studies 😉 Best wishes for your writings!
PS: This is not the right place to ask for such deeds, because this blog has less Bangalorean readers 😉 😉 😉
You know what, this one is really close to me, as it has been nature since childhood to smile at people to get them smile back. Have succeeded in getting it done with the otherwise rigid faced japanese too 😉 It spreads a positive across and you feel that you have immunised the atmosphere against hatred/indifference and so on….with peoples’ smiles!
Good one, keep going 🙂
(Have been busy with paper writing since a few weeks!)
If at all I remember the most grumpiest face in BARD it was your’s ….hahhahah 😉 😉 Kiddin!! I know these Japanese and Chinese faces think a lot to smile. You are doing a good job then. Infecting the atmosphere with smiles…….wow!! Need of the hour. Yes I see the slow postings in Melirupan, good wishes with your paper work. Waiting for your book!
First of all, great looking site you have here and great post too. I would like to keep up with your posts but having problem subscribing to your rss.
Thank u. And your blog is getting more and more interesting, all the best with that too!
P.s: Hehe, i know,i was just trying my luck 🙂
A smile is the best thing that we can give another person. but as you say it might not always be a safe thing. What bugs me is that people share the same bus/train and still remain grumpy. Do read my take on this at http://cybernag.in/2010/07/give-one-get-one-free/
Indians whole heartedly project themselves kind and cheerful, smiling at every tom dick harry when they are out of India 😉
It is wonderful to read two posts on the same message. And the strange similarity in our posts is that we have chosen pictures of animals smiling. It was a good irony to indicate how insane humans are towards a smile. Again I much appreciate your easy effortless writing and the fun attached with every word and punctuation. Thanks so much for leaving a comment in pages from serendipity. Honoured 🙂 Please keep visiting.