A smile

Sometime, very rarely and only  if you pay close attention to your surroundings, you will see a sight which will make you glad for the opportunities you have had, for your parents and families( this you may feel grateful for more often too) and wish life was not so harsh on some of the rest of us, I experienced this yesterday during my tea break.

I work for an IT firm which is pretty big in India. We have a huge sprawling campus and a beautiful two storey cafetaria. all of this requires people to take care of it. It's one of these people who caught my eye. He must not have been more than 16 years. A janitor by profession, he's the one who cleans up the mess we create on the floor and leave on the tables. There was a bunch of peoplke in the late 20s and early 30s celebrating a birthday. And obviously like most people they smashed cake in the birthday boy/man's face creating a huge mess on the floor in the process. But all I saw this kid do was stand there and laugh with glee as he watched the scene. This is something that he is going to have to clean up himself. apart from that its an experience he can not afford to have at the moment. Its pure wastage of a slice or two of cake which he could rather have fed someone he knew. But I didnt see any anger or jealousy or envy on his face. He was happily laughing away, lost in the moment. and it made me realise that life really doesnt have to be as serious as we take it. We can just have a laugh  even when life doesnt give you as much as the other because you are content with your life/ you dont begrudge the others their happiness. We are so lost in one upmanship and coming up on top that most time we do not enjoy what we are doing. We make silly sacrifices like staying away from our families and friends, ignoring them giving more time to work and all for what? I was surprised.

I think the reason that smile caught my eye was because I don't think I smile that way as often as I would like to. I think I wanted to give this person so much more for just the pure innocence he displayed. I wished he could have had some more opportunities, he had had the chance to go to school or college and get a white collar job. But then I look around at all of us who did do that and wonder did we do this to ourselves, is the crazy rat race we run to blame for the lack of that pure spark of joy I saw in this kid? I'm not sure the material things I wish he had had, which I think would make his life easier would actually do much for his soul. Sure it would make his life easier but would he then start fighting for more the way we keep strugglnbg for the next big thing be it a phone, job, car, promotion. Obviously we are more blessed than he is. But we do not say thank you enough nor do we appreciate all that we have as much as it should be. I am glad I sit here knowing that I have an excellent family and friend system. I thank god for the eductaion and job opportunities he has given me. I am glad for the supportive environment I have at work. There are a million other things I am grateful for. And all that brings them to mind is the fact that a kid smiled in the cafetaria, a true smile with no malice, just a pure joyful amused smile. Are we really so starved of real human emotion? My takeaway from this kid is to always hold my head high, be proud of what Im doing, live in the moment and enjoy life whatever be the circumstances. And I wish more of his happiness and joy for life can be seen in people around me too.