Smile

Photo by Joshi Daniel

I love smiles. They make a huge difference to the way people perceive and communicate. A smile can melt the snow that envelopes the indifferent heart. It can douse fires and sprout blooms. I consider myself particularly fortunate because my days begin with a thousand smiles. The way from the parking space to the staffroom of my school is strewn with angelic smiles.

   One of the unwritten rules in my class is that everyone should keep a smiling face. Smiles make the classroom almost paradisiacal. Both teaching and learning become fun with all those smiles lighting up the air.

   Once a student decided to exhibit her displeasure with me by presenting me the most stoic indifference possible because I had given her less marks in a test than she thought she deserved. My explanation that her answer did not match her potential did not convince her. I waited for her natural beatific smile to return to her naughty cheeks below her dancing eyes. But her resolve to punish me surpassed my persuasions until I confronted her with a personal colloquy which eventually led to the beginning of an unforgettable relationship. One of the most enchanting young personalities I ever came across unfolded itself because of my love of smiles.

   I admit that outside the school campus I don’t smile as much as I would love to. The adult world is too funny a place to extract smiles from me. There are too many people out there who insist on choosing what I should believe in, write about, and even eat!  I have chosen to stay away from that world as far as possible. I have embraced solitude gladly outside the classroom. There is a plenitude of smiles in that solitary world, left by unforgettable people as indelible imprints in the deepest chambers of my heart.  

PS. Written for In[di]spire Edition 225: #Smile