Sajeesh Rajendran

The Happiness Quotient…

 

Being the Smile
Being the Smile

 

Framed In:  We seek happiness. Discovering happiness is the ultimate goal of human life. Every effort that we put in, every choice that we make, is driven by this quest for happiness. But in the pursuit of this happiness are we forgetting to smile?

 To smile and to be happy is considered to be the purest form of salvation.

Be the smile that you always wanted to be. It cost you nothing. A simple and genuine smile is such a strong force that it can bring two diagonally opposite poles together, turn strangers into friends, mend broken hearts, set things straight, create harmony, stop war and make the entire world happy! It is the simplest truth that we tend to ignore!

A warm smile can be extremely inviting.  It can make the world a more beautiful place. It’s the quietest happiness quotient everyone can embrace. Bring back the kid in you and smile, without a reason. To be a kid again and to smile is to realize that the happiness we are seeking is deep within us!

Framed Out: It just took a smile for us to become friends! That innocent smile of hers still fills my soul with warmth. Its only when you travel, you realize that the biggest philosophies that one discovers on the road are the simplest truth that we come across on a day-to-day basis! This was clicked at a place called Metsina, a sleepy town just after Punakha, Bhutan.

At a time when globalization is exterminating the nativity all over the world, it’s interesting to see how a country like Bhutan is holding on to its culture, tradition and nativity. Bhutan is unlike any other country I have visited so far. There is something so original about this place that cannot go unnoticed. While I set out to explore Bhutan on a Motorcycle, my search was to find images that can tell stories. And I knew this country would offer many such stories.

This was on the fourth or the fifth day of my trip. I was traveling from Punakha to Paro and stopped at this town called Metsina to check the air pressure in my motorcycle. While the tyre pressure was being checked, I wanted to click a picture of a general shop right opposite to the filling station as it looked very vintage. I crossed the road and moved closer to the shop to find the right angle. That’s when this kid came running out of the shop. She was stunned to see a stranger, holding a mobile phone to click a picture of the building. I could sense that alarming concern in her face. But once the initial jolt melted away, she started smiling at me. She was trying to show me around the place with that gentle smile. I didn’t understand her language but where words fail, smile does the magic. That’s when I realized, a simple smile is the key to your heart and to turn you compassionate. In Bhutan, smiling faces is a common sight . No wonder they are one of the happiest people in the world. 

Every travel stirs your soul and is life-changing. However, this one travel to Bhutan made me discover something that we all know,  SMILE is the simplest path to a happy life. 

Grey Frames: “We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do. “ Mother Theresa