A Precious SMILE….Not Just A Curve That Sets Things Straight!!!

Am back on track………..was a little tied up with everyday activities, so just couldn’t fit in a slot to pour out the words reeling in my head…….

This time the “Object” which set the words in my mind in action turned out to be a four month old bambino, my cute little nephew, “Siddhanth” aka “Rihaan” whom we very lovingly refer to as “Mr.Lal”. The reason behind that being – everytime he lets out that wail to express his indignation at the current state of affairs, his face turns a bright red in a matter of seconds J

However, it was not his occasional wails that caught my attention, it was in fact, the only other expression that he manages to put forward at this stage – his SMILE. This is the first instance that, I, after having mellowed with time, have come into such immediate and continued contact with the tiny lot. This is therefore the first opportunity that I have had to observe and comprehend the activities of this age group. Amongst all the other things that I thus noticed, the SMILE was the one thing that fascinated me.

For most, in fact, for all of us and by us I mean all the people who have gone past the stage of infancy, a “Smile” is restricted to a facial expression formed by flexing a few muscles at both ends of the mouth. At most, it might be something that we perceive in the twinkling of an individual’s eyes. However, for Rihaan, it appeared to be something that had to propagate through his entire constitution in the form of some awkward twists and turns. The scene is more like that of an umpire gesturing a six with a naughty bug somewhere down his pants J, the creature creating a good amount of disturbance…..or an even more appropriate vignette would be the famous Sunny Deol - “Yaara o Yaara” signature dance step. There is an important point to be noted however, the umpire or the Sunny Deol replica, whichever suits your taste…..in this case, is flat down on the ground JJJ. Of course, the trademark open mouthed exhibition of the toothless cavity is forever there. But for Rihaan, the very meaning and purpose of a “Smile” seemed to be incomplete unless accompanied by the incoherent boogie. This in turn led us to come up with the inane but suggestive phrase – “The Full Body Smile”.

“The Full Body Smile” was henceforth observed as being constituent in whole or part in most of Rihaan’s daily activities, to mention a few –

• His “Good Morning” wishes
• His response to a smile anybody passed on to him
• His response to any kind of greeting or for that matter any kind of gibberish
• In his mood of playful banter………

……..the list could just go on and on….....

It is said that on an average children smile 400 times a day as compared to a mere 15 times for an adult. Assuming the same to be true, each time Rihaan adds on to his daily count of 400 he makes sure that he adds on to the count of his onlookers as well, for it can seldom happen that you miss out on your quota of simpers while you stand a witness to the most infectious “SMILE” that I have ever come across.

Thanks a lot kiddo for brightening up my day with the flash of your exquisite smile everytime I cast a loving glance at you….