The Elderly Couple on the Elevator!!

The Smiles from My Shelf [12]

In spite of being a Saturday, it wasn’t easy to find a spot for parking the car around the Government secretariat in the state capital. After going around a few of times, I found some space just opposite to the gate of the building housing the District Treasury. The doors of the elevator were about to close as I was rushing in. A few people were already on the elevator. I squeezed myself to the corner of the elevator near the door next to an elderly couple trying my best not to disturb them. The lady was anxiously searching her bag and was whispering to her husband. He appeared angry and was trying to remain indifferent by uttering to her to let it go. It was apparent that the couple had lost something or forgot to take some document necessary for the day’s transaction. Seeing the indifference of her husband, the elderly lady reluctantly and hesitantly opened up to the rest of us on the elevator as it reached the second floor. She suspected that she left her smartphone in the auto rickshaw. I tried to reassure her and told her not to worry as we can get her phone back in no time. But on reaching for my phone, I realized that I myself had left my phone in the car. However, the other two gentlemen on the elevator were also already acting on helping the couple and collected the phone number from the elderly gentleman. One of them tried to call the number and it kept on ringing but no one was attending the call. We were wondering if the phone kept in the rear seat had fallen off from the vehicle. All of us then went to the respective sections to get our works done, hoping that the call will be returned sometime soon. I had to run back and forth a few times between the car and the 2^nd floor office to fetch the forgotten documents along with my phone. The Good Samaritan continued his efforts to reach the lost phone of the couple from his phone. Then finally, as he was standing beside the cash counter, he received a call from an unknown number. It was from the driver of the auto rickshaw. He had returned to the place where the elderly couple had disembarked, hoping to find them and return the phone. We were all relieved and happy. And as I was sitting in the chair waiting for my turn to go to the counter, the elderly lady was passing by. She stopped on seeing me and said “We got the phone back. The driver brought it back.” And in her tired eyes, there was a smile of gratitude.      

Good Samaritans of La Spezia

The Smiles from My Shelf [11]

Today is world kindness day, they say! And we have been asked to share our own stories of incredible kindness- of our holiday being saved by a stranger's help in a distant land.

We were on a cruise to the five islands, Cinque Terre, on the Italian Riviera this past July. Soaked up in the Mediterranean sun, we arrived at the La Spezia port, late in the evening. The lone family man in the group had a long shopping list mailed in from his wife, so we got down near the big shopping mall on the way back to hotel, located a bit far, at Lerici. As it happens, so often, the shopping went on and on, till the mall downed the shutters. The bright lights within gave no clues whatsoever on the impending darkness outside the mall. And soon we were out in the darkness carrying giant carry bags in either hands.

There were no sign of taxis nor of any other means of public transport and we stood staring at each other and the speeding cars here and there. We were stuck there in a strange and distant land, not a single pedestrian anywhere to be found! 

Out of nowhere, a small car appeared and stopped near us. The young man at the wheel smiled at us and asked us, "hello, where do you want to go?" Being the elder in the group, the younger guys looked at me inquisitively. With the readings on the Italian mafia pushed back to the corner of my mind, I nodded to the group to get in to the car. 

Once inside, we didn't even know the direction to go or the place we should get down. The young men were discussing among themselves in the native tongue and finally stopped near a bus stop. They got down from the car and gave clear instructions on the bus we had to board and where to purchase the tickets. 

 Alexio (left with thumb up) and his friend posing with us

The Bus Stop

The wait

we were shaken, off our prejudices, as they sped away:)

We do not know, if stopping one's car in the middle of the night, for total strangers from distant lands, counts as an incredible act of kindness on the part of Alexio and his friend. But on that midnight at La Spezia, for the two Chinese and two Indians stranded in the streets in a strange land, the two young men had virtually descended from the heavens, guided us to safety and sped away smiling!!

The Auto Smile(y)!

The Smiles From My Shelf [10]

If you have grown up in a "third world" town, the auto rickshaws must have been a constant feature in your life. "Auto" meant the three wheeled gentle giant and everything else were mere vehicles. Right from the days on the road side window sill, taking count of the infinite stream of vehicles passing by, the tuk tuk or the 'kutu kutu' remained my eternal favourite. 

Even James Bond trusts 'Tuk Tuk' to the Limousine to take him places in time :) [VIDEO]

We had regular run ins with 'auto pilots' once we took to roads on rented bicycles. And, yes! Those were the only powered vehicles, we had raced against and won, the cycles racing along the bumpy footpaths as the rivals got stuck in traffic on our minor roads. Again, it was an auto that I had ridden, bleeding from the head with a broken arm, in one of those early trysts with death!

With a Patron Saint in Rajini, they are often righteous and know all the routes 8-) [VIDEO]

The relationship with 'autos' had gone sour and tempestuous once I sat behind the wheel, learning to train a four wheeled giant to listen to me in my late teens. Even as I was dealing with disobedient combination of the wheel, clutch and brake, the unruly 'autos' used to mob me from left, right and rear not to mention that slow moving one just in front, bumper to bumper! And the 'autos' were a 'black mark' on the life on the road since then!

The Autopilots are often quarrelsome, with a specific dislike for the English Language ;) [VIDEO]

Matters came to a head this past week when I was driving home after a hard day at work. I was giving way to an ambulance on the right and suddenly, from out of nowhere, the 'black mark' appeared creeping past my left! Fretting and fuming, I pushed down the pedal in an attempt to overtake the offender. I had a passing glance at the rear of the rickshaw as I was about to go past it. 

There it was written, in bold golden letters accompanied by a smiley..........

"Hi Abhi" :-) !!

 I slowed down and fell behind, in line!

And I couldn't resist to check my broad grin on the rear view mirror :D

Flashback to a Photo Shootout :)

The Smiles From My Shelf [9]

Winter is the time when the woes from the wilderness return with a vengeance to haul one back into melancholy moods. There is nothing better than a fresh look at the fond memories from the past to keep one floating above it all. Those who had already seen this, kindly excuse.....

There is nothing more cheerful to offer as a first post this new year :)

Anyang :)

Anya...!! What?!!!

What are you upto?!!

Hey...you.....taking my picture?!!

No, no...don't...

shsho!!

Iyalekkondu thottu!!

(I'm fed up with this guy!!)

Ini endu cheyyum?!!

(What to do now?!!)

aah! pose cheythekkam ;)

(ok then, let me pose for the camera)

Hey..you...

....here I am ...

Kimchee :)

The 55 W Smile

The Smiles From My Shelf [8]

She was stumbling along, dragging the cart full of rejected cans.

The wrinkles on her face seemed to hold back many an untold struggle in life.

She stopped her cart to take a hard look at me as I was about to pass her.

Then with a soft motherly voice she said, smiling;

“anyang haseyo” :)

The Philosopher's Smile

The Smiles from My Shelf [7]

He was spotted on the bench by the side of the children’s park last evening, observing the couple of kids playing around with a soccer ball. I’m not sure if it is already in vogue in these parts of the world but he was spotting the Iniesta hairstyle, of course the scarcity of resources denying him the luxury of the Ahn Jung-Hwan one. His keen eyes were following the movement of the ball as the kids were running around dribbling and kicking it around. They had no pretensions of a Messi in the making. Neither showed an early promise to curve it like Carlos or bend it like Beckham in the distant future at some soccer arena. Yet the wise one on the bench kept on watching with the glowing eyes not revealing any emotion. The kids had a lot of running around so typical of those full grown men in their national colors. But unlike the adults they grew tired and fell to the ground without much delay and lay there still, staring at the moon. Released from the bench, the wise one now made a rapid movement towards the ball and with the admiring crowd eagerly watching he applied the dreaded hand of God on the globe on the ground. The all powerful book of rules had no mention of the card to be flashed under the circumstances to cunning little fellows moving around on all fours. And as he opened his mouth wide, revealing not the universe but his real intentions, with a swift movement of surprising agility belying her age but befitting the Granny of a wannabe soccer star, the elderly lady took off from the bench and lifted him away from the ball and deposited him back on the pouch on her back from where he kept on smiling the philosopher’s smile.

The Princess on the Wall

The Smiles From My Shelf [6]

“.....our friends were invariably proletarian and poor.... you recognized them by their clothes......But even in the way they wore their clothes, there was a fantasy, a frankness .....(the) young women of working-class families;.....they were more authentic and spontaneous.”

Michelangelo Antonioni

The family had pulled in with two shopping carts full of food, beverages and other household items. By all means they appeared a working class family of moderate means. She was wearing ordinary clothes and led her parents into the winter wear shop, walking as if there were springs on her legs and smiling beautifully. Her Father appeared uninterested and just stood holding the carts while her Mother was trying on the colorful neck scarves. She had put on a brown leather jacket and stood in front of the mirror, turning left and right, smiling all the while. Having assured herself, that it was made for her, she walked towards her Dad, strolling majestically as if she were a princess. Dad whispered something under his breath and looked the other way, sending her in her Mother’s direction. But the Mother was too busy with the collection of scarves and didn’t even look up. A couple of tear drops appeared to find their way onto the leather jacket as she was carefully hanging it back on the display railing. She quickly regained her composure and began eyeing other items. Those somehow failed to engage her attention for long and she found her way back to her Father again. This time he was more forthcoming as he pulled out his wallet and revealed his helplessness. She smiled again having convinced herself that there wasn’t the slightest dip in her Father’s love for her. She sauntered again, majestically, on the springs, towards the clothing on which she had left her mark unintentionally. Having put it on one last time, she smiled at the princess who smiled back at her from within the mirror on the walls of that winter wear shop.

The Girl Who Went Up in the Air and Came Down to Smile

The Smiles from My Shelf [5]

The rains arrived unannounced as I had swiped out of another roller-coaster ride the other day. But unlike the previous night it was calm and composed, and whispered a slow melody as if to egg me on to tap my feet. It was not to be for my last act of the day was paying tributes to someone whose body was found on the railway tracks under tragic circumstances. Rains had given up on me sensing that I had company to discuss life and death during the long walk home on the half moon night.

Albert was explaining why the suicide was the only important philosophical question just as I had stepped on to the pedestrian crossing as the signal flashed green for us. Out of nowhere appeared the mini tipper which almost brushed my outstretched nose and sped away.

“They tell us that suicide is the greatest act of cowardice and that it is wrong; when it is quite obvious that there is nothing in this world to which every man has a more unassailable title than to his own life and person.” Arthur argued walking by my left even as I shook my head in total disapproval; of the tipper’s right to play with my life.

“It is the ultimate and absolute evil, the refusal to take an interest in existence. A person who kills himself destroys the entire world.” Gilbert was adamant and unforgiving on the ‘murder of self’.

“Suicide is the rejection of freedom. Instead of fleeing the meaninglessness of life, we should embrace life passionately. In spite of its inherent absurdity, we can somehow find happiness in life.” Albert was so clear with his thoughts on life.

“Live on without relinquishing any of the certainty, without a future, without hope, without illusions and without resignation either. Stare at death with passionate attention and this fascination will liberate you”; Jean-Paul stepped in to support Albert. I looked up at the sky and the moon too was nodding in approval.

Two girls were coming towards me as I approached the last pedestrian crossing near the apartment complex. One of them glanced at me starry eyed, half in awe and half in admiration, so typical of the girls of her age. The other girl was getting into a taxi as I reached the zebra lines. She waved her friend away and turned to look at me one more time and smiled half halfheartedly which I was in no mood to return after those exhausting discourses on the meaning of life. A taxi cab stopped for her as she leisurely crossed the road may be thinking of someone and playing with her hand phone and I too followed as the cab driver had waved me on. Then I turned to look at the other side to see the speeding sedans and slowed down and looked ahead to see to my horror that she wasn’t doing the same right in front of me. There was the braking, there was the noise and everything happened at lightening speed and I saw her going up in the air by about two to three feet and falling back on the bonnet of the car and being thrown away a couple of meters in front, all in a flash.

She got up on her feet on her own, confused and frightened yet she smiled again an embarrassed smile.

"Hang on to your life with all your might, for this life is precious and we may not get another," I told myself even as I thanked my companions and waved them away for a peaceful night.

The few people who gathered had by now led the girl to a nearby car and I flashed the thumbs up for her as she sat on the rear seat and bowed to me smiling a pain filled smile.

Com. E. K. Nayanar

The Smiles From My Shelf [4]

It has been ages since I had posted something on one of my favorite topics.

Was it that I didn’t want to? I’m not sure!!

But today I was reminded about it by a most unlikely source. As I was scrolling through the online news papers today, I had come across a report on the investigation to the conspiracy by certain communal elements to assassinate the former Kerala Chief Minister E K Nayanar. The politics in Kerala has been witnessing a rapid transformation in the run up to the present general elections, leaving the man on the street confused as well as saddened by the turn of events. Money, muscle power and rabid communal elements have virtually taken over the centre stage like never before. It is under such circumstances that a man of the masses like Com. Nayanar is really missed.

Com. E. K., as we used to refer to him, was no run of the mill polititian. He was a gentle and genial leader who had touched the people's hearts irrespective of their political affiliations. There were no short cuts for him in politics, he had worked 'underground' in almost all regions of the state and knew every village "like the back of my hand". Throughout his life he was on the side of the ordinary and the downtrodden people and earned their uninhibited affection and respects. I still remember the sea of humanity that had beseiged the AKG Centre, braving the incessant monsoon showers to have a last glimpse of his body and pay him their last respects.

Com. E. K. lived a modest life. He was the CM, next door who could easily connect with the man in the street. A brilliant speaker with a penchant for putting things in a hilarious way, he had often sent his audience into roars of laughter. The comrades as well as political opponents liked to listen to him. He showed an effortless irreverence to things formal and was never a strict adherent to protocols. But behind all these was the master politician with guileless persuasive skills, who was chosen to lead an experimental coalition and went on to become the state's longest serving Chief Minister. There was no disputing his ideological commitments but he had also possessed the pragmatism that was essential in running coalition governments. He could easily tranform himself from an old-fashioned organizer to an able administrator. Some of the state's best known developmental and welfare initiatives were launched under his leadership. The successful efforts to strengthen the public distribution system, to boost the agricultural production, the decentralization of power through the district council experiments and the path breaking mass campaigns that made Kerala a fully literate state were all carried out with him at the helm. The radical experiment at democratic decentralization, the People's Plan Campaign was launched during his last stint as Chief Minister. If some of those experiments might have run into rough weather let's blame it on the scourge of corruption that had crept into the very grass roots and not the men who took the noble initiative.

I have one fond recollection of a close encounter with that man of the masses. It was the early 1990's and I was in my second year in college. A student agitation was on against the policies of the then government in the education sector. The state leaders of the left leaning student organizations were on indefinite hunger strike in front of the government secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram. Engineering college students had joined them in an adjacent 'pandal' and I was put on duty there to attend to the fasting comrades. Our days used to start quietly with a reading and analysis of the morning news papers. But as the day wore on, the road in front of secretariat was filled with demonstrators expressing solidarity with the fasting students. There were frequent skirmishes too which would turn the road into a virtual battleground between the agitating students and the policemen led by a certain Rishi Raj Singh, who had always preferred to lead from the front. After sunset we had the torchlight demostrations, often daring the onlooking policemen to come and hit us. The strike was dragging on for longer than expected and one by one the striking comrades were being arrested and removed to hospitals. Prominent politicians from the opposition used to visit us. One afternoon, there was a sudden spurt of movement of people in and around our 'pandal' and some of those sitting inside quickly rushed out. Before I could sense what was going on I saw right in front of me, the familiar figure of Com. E. K, spotting the customary smile. He gestured to my fasting comrade Sunil C. P. not to get up from his bed even as he entered the 'pandal'. And as I stood motionless and confused, the legendary communist leader put his left hand on my shoulder and smiled at me. He told me in his no-nonsense way that he did not think that the government will reverse its policies. But he assured us that "we will fight this battle together". I did not know what to say and merely returned the smile.

In these days of violent and acrimonious political battles, the people of Kerala might be missing the healing presence of a charismatic personality like Com. E. K. and his sense of humour while handling the most vivacious of political debates. And I personally miss the beaming and innocent smile of that man of the masses.

Check Your Smile Skills.....

How good are you at spotting a fake smile?

Find out here :-)

Happy Birth Day; Dear :-)

Happy B'Day, Dear :-)

You made the e-life beautiful with your simple elegance

When I Surprised Myself!

The Smiles From My Shelf [3]

It's quite some time since my last post on this topic. Not that I had run out of 'Smiles' to post, perhaps I was not in the mood for a smile, or to write about one.

One day this past week as I was driving to college I saw a colleague and stopped my car by the side of the road. In another couple of minutes I heard a screeching noise followed by a thud at the rear. On looking back I saw a young man on his bike, struggling to move his vehicle away from the back of mine, his head bowed in apparent embarassment. I sat on in the car without bothering to get down to check the extent of damage he had caused. He slowly and hesitantly moved his bike to my side. With no words spoken and without raising his head he smiled at me through the corners of his eyes, a guilty smile.

And for once I managed to 'retaliate' with a broader smile, albeit with a tinge of reprehension!

Now that surprised me for I had never thought of myself as someone capable of doing that.....

Signs of aging and disinterest?!

The Smile of Singapore

The Smiles From My Shelf [2]

About half a dozen readers conveyed that they had smiled at my first post on the topic. That's nearly 40% of my readership, and that I suppose is reason enough for this post, my second on the same, :-)

Some years back, I had been to Singapore, again to satisfy my wander lust. After walking around the major landmarks, in the city state for a whole day we, my brother and I, came to a halt on a bench by the side of Orchard Road. A girl, apparently in her pre-teens was sitting on the adjacent bench. She had a very small nose; her eyes were just two dots and added to that they were squinted. She could never have been branded beautiful, had beauty not been in the eyes of the beholder.

She held a small shopping bag, probably a gift from her dad, who had gone to the parking yard to fetch his car and she was relishing her chocolate. She was also smiling throughout, a contented smile. But she was restless for some reason, even at that moment of apparent happiness and was eyeing us from time to time, as we sat staring at the map.

Finally she broke free and gave us a big and beautiful smile and she asked us, “Do you want help?”!!!

With children like her as the future citizens, Singapore will continue to smile its way to success.

In Saranath, the Buddha Still Smiles

The Smiles From My Shelf [1]

I've a strange hobby, collecting smiles. Starting today, I shall share with you some of the smiles from my collection. So this is the first one in a series. Hope you all will like it. Or if you don't, at least smile at it :-)

Last March I went soul searching in Saranath. Surprisingly serene calm prevailed in the land of Buddha's first sermon. After sitting in meditation in several temples, spread across nations*,
I thought of having some food. (*There were the Burmese, the Chinese, the Japanese, the Korean, the Thai & the Tibetan temples, each with its distinct style of Architecture, in addition to the newly constructed and the ruined Mul Gandh Kuti Viharas, all in a span about 6 kms.) As I walked towards a restaurant, I noticed him for the first time, a small boy hanging around a group of foreigners.

State of the Union, I told myself.

Soon I heard him inside the hotel, talking to the man at the paying counter. "Arrey thoo kahan leke aaya? Woh log apne aap aa rahe the", the man with the big moustache was telling him. "Chalo is bar tho sahi, agle baar aise mat kahna", he pleaded, disappointment writ large on his face.

After coming out of the hotel, I had a closer look at him. He looked around ten years old, looked well dressed by the standards expected of Indian village boys and was eyeing another set of foreigners.

Enterprising, I shuffled my thoughts.

"Yahan se Benarus jaane ke liye gaadi kahan se milenge?", I asked him as he passed by my side. "Wahan se milenge gaadi aapko, panch, dus minute mein bus aajaenge, autorikshawale jsyade paise lenge aapse", he replied pointing to the other side of the road. "Here people will demand money for every service", I remembered the words of a research scholar I met at Benarus. So I thought of giving him a tip. But he hurried away to catch up with his 'clients'. As I waited for the bus, I saw his ways with his prospective customers, not at all boyish but gentlemanly.
Had we remained children forever?!

Having boarded the bus I looked around for him. He was accompanying the foreigners when I last saw him. But now he seemed to have halted and had fallen behind on hearing the sound of the approaching bus for he was anxiously looking in the direction of the bus. I waved to him, as if to acknowledge my gratitude. His face lit up on seeing me comfortably seated inside the bus and he presented me with a satisfied smile, which I brought home and kept in my shelf.

So next time you smile, be liberal with it for someone with bizarre habits may be lurking near you and he may take it away for safe keeping.