Smile - True Story

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It was a very fine Sunday and I found myself at a Coffee Day, at Bharath Mall in Mangalore. Writers often take a stroll and even go for long walks to find their inspiration or work out how they are going to write a story. And I was doing just that on that pleasant day.

At the Coffee shop, while I eagerly awaited my favorite Cappuccino, my eyes wandered around. Young girls in attractive attire always attract my attention, and I think that is natural. This time I spotted a very classical looking lady with a boy, who must have been her boyfriend, and I was unconsciously looking at her without a blink in my eyes. Perhaps the very innocence in her face attracted me like a magnet. She was, have no doubts, very gorgeous. But she was very young and it was just the beauty that I took pleasure in looking at. Honestly, there wasn't anything else. As I smiled I found that she was giving me stares which were certainly not pleasant ones. And just a few minutes later – her boy friend suddenly got up and started walking towards me. 'Oh my god… Am I in trouble?' I thought to myself, as he started coming my way.

'Mister, what's the matter? Why are you smiling at my babe? Don't you have one?' asked that lad. I smiled at him innocently. 'Why the hell are you smiling now?' he asked me while rolling up his sleeves. The language was blunt and it attracted almost everyone's attention hellip; and that was indeed embarrassing me. 'Why don't you speak? Are you dumb now?' he questioned me yet again. 'God, am I dead?' I thought again. Thankfully… a former colleague of mine came into the coffee shop and greeted me with utmost respect 'Hello Sir!' adding further 'how are you doing? Long time no see.' 'Do you know this guy?' my potential antagonist asked my friend Ritesh. 'Oh yeah… he was my boss few years back.' 'You know he was smiling at my girlfriend?' the Macho seemed enquiring with Ritesh. 'Sale… Kyabe… Teri Girlfriend ko koi smile bhi nahi sakta kya?' Counter questioned Ritesh in Hindi.

Somehow, in the end, thanks to my wit and Ritesh's smartness a cease fire was called and I gave the boy a warm handshake with another good smile. 'You look pretty good with your smile, in fact' the lad said before we parted ways. 'Thanks. But why don't you keep smiling?' I asked. 'Babes don't appreciate a smiling guy dude!' 'Oh hellip; I see… that's very interesting news for me.' Before we parted ways the Macho, whose name was Kuldeep, introduced me to his gracious looking girlfriend. And even she was impressed with my smile. She was very kind while saying 'You have a very good personality and your smile is an added feature.' 'Really, is that so? Then how come you complained about me to your Boyfriend' I asked inquisitively.

'Well… actually… I didn't complain. I simply wanted to pass a comment.' 'Oh hellip; my god… you almost killed me. Look at your man and his muscles… a poor man like me would have been in hospital by now.' 'I'm sorry sir' she apologized 'Don't call me sir. Call me Mahesh'. 'I might not be able to address you that way… you have a very respectable personality… you look like a father figure to me.' 'Is that so?' I laughed saying that and after that we went our separate ways. I never got a chance to speak to them again but, yes, we always smiled every time we spotted each other. They might not know my name, neither do I know theirs, but certainly we know each other today. Thanks to that 'Smile'.

Every time I find any interesting person, male or female, old or young, Indian or a foreigner, I always give them a smile. 'Smile at the world and the world smiles back at you' they say but that's not true always when you come to Indians. It might go seriously wrong if you smile at a girl, especially when her boyfriend is with her - in Bangalore or Mangalore. I know this because lots of my young friends have told me about this. Things might be different if you have some gray hair on your head, but more or less, smiling at strangers might not a pleasant experience.