smile ...

How many types of smile are there ? There is the genuine smile from genuine happiness , the made up smile when you are forced to smile inspite of unhappiness , the fake smile when you hate the person but still want to appear civil and the innocent smile the list goes on .... These days im confused by some smiles . Let me explain .. Some time back i randomly met a friend on the road . Having known her many years back as a bubbly , enthusiastic young woman i was happy to see her still untouched by ageing . She was smiling and after sometime into the conversation as is customary in the eastern part of the world i asked her about her husband and children . She mentioned she was a widow and had a child . Divorces , widowhood etc are inevitable part of life for some people but i couldnt stop but think "why she of all the people " .. She was one of the bubbliest of the persons i knew and I couldnt digest it . And inspite of the dictum of "moving on " i was in awe at how she could continue to be smiling the genuine smile . Though i didnt probe further , she was clearly not in denial , nor was she faking a smile . It was the smile of acceptance of what fate had dished out to her ..

I dont know whats right or wrong with last two years but i keep on meeting people who smile genuinely inspite of undergoing or having undergone personal tragedies . Sometime back i saw a list of a stress rating scale and in it one of the top was divorce and death of spouse . But what about death of a child . Its said that it is a really sad event and including singer chitra who found the inner strength to smile inspite of one of the greatest tragedies . But i know more than one person whose child is having mental retardation . The three possible reactions are : getting depressed , accepting it and living life and lastly denial even if long term . Just as life is always surprising till date whomever i have seen have accepted it for what it is and still manage to smile genuinely .

I know countless people who do smile genuinely inspite of personal tragedies . Of course i hardly have a friend who does a fake smile cos they are not in my circle . Of course being friends many of them do tell about the setbacks they have faced and some of them do cry too (thats normal i think to be human ) .. But finally after sometime when they smile genuinely fully accepting that that tragedy is a part of the sum total of life i am not wondserstruck at their "strength " ... I am wonderstruck at the phenomenon of life ....