The Boy, the Smile... Me n You...

There are about 6.7 billion people living on earth as on September 2008, I read in Wikipedia. And I was, I thought, just one among them.

Although I am but a tiny mite among this vast sea of humans, I am a highly complex universe in myself. We all are. Every single person goes through each day with a lot of anxieties and responsibilities. Deadlines and submissions. There are decisions to take, committments to be made, bills to be paid. There are promises left unfulfilled, things left unsaid, tasks left undone. Every person has cocooned themselves with obligations. .

But while we wind our way each day through this maze that we've made of our lives, it would be good if we sometimes stopped and thought about what we are landing ourselves in. Is our self centered world all that we need to care about? Are we indeed as important as our egoistic self convinces us. Is our life any more important than our neighbour's?

Why do we stare with insouciance when at news of explosions happening around the world? Why don't we shed a tear when we learn that thousands of innocent people are being tortured and murdered in the name of religion. Why can't we offer more than just a sigh when we hear about disasters killing thousands. Were these people any less important than us.

Why do we still hurry on to catch the next train if we witness an accident on the tracks. Aren't they too people with families like us. Don't they too have people somewhere who would be mortified to hear about the accident. Couldnt we just stop and help. We might get late, yeah, but wouldn't we have thereby done something far more important.

Do we have to wait for such things to happen to us before we learn to feel for others. Are we getting so caught up in this materialistic world, that we let humanity die. Or was humanity always dead. Did we just coin this word to give credit to our race, to pretend that we are something we are not.

We needn't be Saints or acclaimed leaders of peace, to make a difference. All we need is to stop once a while and care for someone. And a difference is all that we need, however tiny that might be. One good turn that can lead to another. One smile that can be passed to another. One assurance that will sustain many others.

The reason that got me to write this, was a boy. A random boy on the streets of Dadar. He might be in his early twenties. And we were walking in opposite directions approaching each other. And a little girl selling rose flowers, who crossed his way, bumped into him.
This was 'Dadar' let me tell you, at 6 in the evening. People were frenetically hurrying about, returning from office. Hawkers and roadside sellers were hollering. Street kids and urchins were wandering about. A bewidering jungle of people there was.

And there in that cacophonous little gully in Dadar, this particular buy stops, lifts the little girl by her waist and gently places her one side of the street. He SMILES. Buys a little bunch of flowers and gives her a gentle nod asking her to take care of herself. The girl SMILES. I SMILE. We all SMILE...

A small happening on a little street in a tiny suburb. A boy, a flower girl and an observer. A smile sprang and spread. A blog post got entered. A remindance remains, imploring to the readers to spread that smile :)

Let's make a tiny difference too.

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