Xeno and others

The most beautiful smile I have ever seen . . . 

The most beautiful smile I have ever seen belongs to Soumya. A little over seven when I met her , today Soumya must be twelve or thirteen years old. Soumya's pretty little face lit up when we gave her the pencil set. A front-two-teeth-missing smile. A I-got-new-things smile. I do not know if I will find her today  when I visit  The Tsunami Rehabilation Centre for orphanages, Link Road, Bharthi Nagar. I want to. I wish to. But I will probably never know.

The most beautiful smile I have ever seen is that of my mother's. When I go to wake her up, every morning . When as a daily ritual she opens her eyes trying to locate Lord Shiva's photo on the wall opposite to her but finds me instead and flashes that million dollar smile.

The most beautiful smile I have ever seen is that of the baby's who befriends me at the D.G Petrol Bunk traffic signal. When the baby with its cute white onesie and matching socks scans the crowd with his beautiful big eyes but fixes his eyes only at me before streching his lips into the widest grin possible.

The most beautiful smile I have ever seen is that of my sister's.When I buy the those expensive shoes she always wanted. When I agree to drop her off to her college. When , in between the big gestures and small acts , she flashes her perfect smile. 

The most beautiful smile I have ever seen is of Manglamma's . When I present her a Saree for Ugadi and she vehemently refuses to accept it. After coaxing her, convincing her that I always wanted to buy her one ever since I started working and telling her that I am giving it with a lot of gratitude in my heart, my domestic help finally accepts defeat and smiles.

The most beautiful smile I have ever seen is that of my father's. When miles away I call him and say that I have received my first job offer, I can hear him smile. I can hear him feeling proud, I can hear him being thankful to the almighty and I can hear him bless me. I can hear him smile.

The most beautiful smile I have ever seen is when I smiled and said 'Thank You' to Savitha , the Security Guard at the mall.

The most beautiful smile I have ever seen is when you are reading this and thinking about all the beautiful smiles you have seen .