“ Look at her million dollar smile. She is the most sought actress in the film industry. She has everything that a woman could possibly want,” said a woman to her husband as the celebrity came to receive a prestigious award on the diaz.

But little did the woman realize the several untold stories that the celebrity hid behind her smile. The failed relationships, the countless therapy sessions and medications to manage her clinical depression were driving her crazy. In her ten years of career as an actress, she had mastered the art of smiling.

It’s just a five-letter-word
But has the potency to change the world
Feel the positivity when you spread a smile
A smile comes back to embrace you in piles.

Soothingly, it cleanses throbbing pains
Intricately, it crafted, devoid of faults or chains
Tenderly, it spreads like homemade  butter
Melts the burning hearts of each other

They say hormones it releases, cortisol, and endorphins
Health benefits it provides many
Blood pressure and pain reduces
Calmness and endurance increase.

A Gift of a smile costs nothing,
But for a receiver, it’s a balmy linger, heals wound, every
So, paint a broad smile on your beautiful curve
Keep your ego aside and, then see, happiness, you surely will observe.

Copyright@Pooja Mandla

It’s just a five-letter-word
But has the potency to change the world
Feel the positivity when you spread a smile
A smile comes back to embrace you in piles.

Soothingly, it cleanses throbbing pains
Intricately, it crafted, devoid of faults or chains
Tenderly, it spreads like homemade  butter
Melts the burning hearts of each other

They say hormones it releases, cortisol, and endorphins
Health benefits it provides many
Blood pressure and pain reduces
Calmness and endurance increase.

A Gift of a smile costs nothing,
But for a receiver, it’s a balmy linger, heals wound, every
So, paint a broad smile on your beautiful curve
Keep your ego aside and, then see, happiness, you surely will observe.

Copyright@Pooja Mandla

” Srija ,you can never ride the bike again as we had to ampute your left
leg after the terrible bike accident.”
Srija smiled radiantly as she recalled the words of the surgeon who had operated her leg six years ago. She had a strange zeal to ride the bike and thus inspite of being an
amputee, she never lost her focus and finally rode from Manali to Manikaran all by herself . She was an inspiration for many girls ,who gave up easily succumbing to physical and mental pressures. The radiant smile on her face displayed ” The Moment of Triumph.”

Smiles take you miles, in the journey of life,
Best jewel worn to enrich inner beauty,
This curve adorning the face, is ray of sunshine,
Radiating hope, expunging fear, spreading cheer

Beaming smile, shares happiness with loved ones,
Coy smile, signalling assent, ignites romance in tender hearts,
Compassionate smile, comforts beleaguered souls,
Gentle smile, breaks the ice, warms hearts,
Smile masking pain, displays steely resolve to overcome difficulties.
Triumphant smile symbolizes victory earned.

Take-a-cue-
Rainbow, smile of nature, connotes joy of fulfillment,
After it drenches, parched lands and hearts.
Keep smiling, help others beat stress,
Hearty smiles paint picture-perfect life.

No, don’t go out”, Raju said, holding Munni’s hand tightly. Munni tried relentlessly to loosen her brother’s grip while making sure none of the ‘kairis'(raw mangoes) fall from her dupatta. “If we are caught, the Mango man will punish us. Remember what villagers talk about him.” But Munni was in no mood to listen, her morality surpassed the joy of stealing mangoes, she shouted at top of her voice, “Joshi kakaaaa”, in few minutes an old, grumpy-looking fellow came out, “Kaka we love kairis, but my baba says stealing is bad, can you please allow us to take few from your garden.” Munni said these words flashing the biggest smile. Joshi kaka, who in years was never at the receiving end of such an honest smile, surprisingly smiled back. His pain of seclusion was a bit lessened.

A curve of the lips
Outwards
Reaching out
To all in sight
Setting their day bright
Like a morning bloom

A smile sets the tone
For many meetings…
It acts as an acknowledgment,
A greeting and often,
An ice-breaker.

The innocent smile of an infant;
The mischievous smile of a teenager;
The all-knowing smile of a parent;
The flirtatious smile of a lover;
The cynical smile of a rival;
The genuine smile of a cheerful person;
All have different connotations…

A smile can script any narration,
Transcend all languages;
Make it your buddy
Carry it with you always!

Suja Ram

I had never seen her talking . She never answered my constant queries. It irritated me .But I hadn’t learnt to ignore my students. I came to know that her mother worked as a domestic help in a house on the condition they would help her to study. Nice gesture,but in return even she was made to work on return from school .She lagged behind in her studies. She was terrified when I called her .When I promised to help her during the break she looked unbelievingly. She broke into a cheerful smile like sunshine appearing from parting clouds.
99 words

Shailaja’s mind was in turmoil. The flash floods caused by the cloudburst had been so sudden. It was almost midnight and Rahul who usually returned home around seven had still not shown up. All sorts of unwanted thoughts crept in making her more and more tense. Suddenly she spotted a young man in a red t-shirt waving from a distance. She crinkled her eyes to have a clearer vision. Yes! It was her son Rahul! Her lips curved tremulously into a smile as tears of relief crept down her cheeks.

Spreading cheer
Miles and miles across,
Immersing others in your
Love and affection for long,
Ensuring that they get this curve on there lips too,
Smile, a powerful word,
That can bring peace amongst
Nations at war,
Smile, a magical word,
That can cure,
Even the incurable.
Smile, the harmless weapon,
That can bring only joy
And happiness where ever it can reach.
Smile, the soothing feel,
That eases our mind
From the day long fatigue.

Kirti V

“Always wear a smile”,my mom always used to say.I agree with this.Smile is contagious,when one smiles others too smile.It helps to elevate the spirit and brings positivity.
Once I had to speak in a public meeting.The audiance was huge.I remembered mom and did a namaskar with a wide smile.It enhanced my confidence and believe me the speech went well.
Smile brings cheer.A smiling person remains healthy.Its the most precious thing God bestowed on us.Never shy out of it,the costliest ornament to brighten the face.

“Always wear a smile”,my mom always used to say.I agree with this.Smile is contagious,when one smiles others too smile.It helps to elevate the spirit and brings positivity.
Once I had to speak in a public meeting.The audiance was huge.I remembered mom and did a namaskar with a wide smile.It enhanced my confidence and believe me the speech went well.
Smile brings cheer.A smiling person remains healthy.Its the most precious thing God bestowed on us.Never shy out of it,the costliest ornament to brighten the face.

Like the water it flows,
Taking the shape as it goes,
That curve on the face,
Moulded by our emotions and experiences,
Definitely sets things right,
A sanguine smile abundantly delivers.
.
Yet, there is the smile,
Painted with negative tints,
Betrayals and apathy,
Carefully concealed behind,
The widest grin ever seen.
.
We, adults are grey,
Prone to saving our skin,
Desperate for those million likes,
Smiling frantically to win the world.
While the innocent beings on this planet,
Smile from within, and still rule.
.
Confuse, therefore not,
The smile from genuine efforts
With that forcibly generated.

The unbearable heat made the septuagenarian gasp, and her wrinkled skin glistened with perspiration. She leaned on the walking cane, which supported her shrivelled body.

Her daily routine was to visit the orphanage. The sweets she painstakingly prepared for the unparented children. They came in hordes during their lunch breaks and swarmed her like the bees.

The lips arched wide upwards, and the creases increased below her twinkling eyes. Her feet wobbled, but her toothless gums bore her delighted smile. Love flowed as they squealed, “Amma”. Her heart danced with boundless joy as these innocent children were her only family.

Samaira was organizing her clothes carefully categorizing them into wearable and discarded stuff.Mini was scrubbing the floor and silently observing her. Samaira took out a red sari, she had worn for n number of times. Just as she was about to stuff it into the heap of clothes, Mini intervened,” Could I please take it Malkin?”
Samaira chuckled,”You are too small to wear this.”
“Not for me, for Ma.”
Samaira handed it over, thinking
“How would her bedridden mother, wear a sari?”
Meanwhile Mini flashed a victory smile, recollecting how beautiful her mother looked in red?

I run my fingers on the marble, cool in the gentle morning sun.
Just like her, her bright eyes, her blithe laughter, her pure heart…
I fish out those pink envelopes the center has mailed.
I settle with her on the dewy grass, and read every single one of those unnamed letters.
Odes of love and gratitude, from happy strangers she would never meet.
I picture their smiles, I’m so proud.
Of my daughter, an organ donor, gifting lives to many.
I place their appreciation at her grave, she’s still alive, in their souls.
I beam between tears of joy.

SMILE the magic word which lights up hearts,
a loving smile fills a gloomy day with brightness,
smile with your heart to melt the stone hearted,
leave the fake selfie smile and smile wholeheartedly.
A smile spreads happiness and gives positive vibes,
a smile is infectious let’s spread the infection called
SMILE keep smiling.

A smile is sweet and free, spreading limitless joy and harmony.
A smile takes less effort than a frown,
Yet we find it easy in sorrow to drown.
But she was the epitome of beauty and grace, an everlasting smile bejeweled her face.
No matter how many challenges she encountered,
Each one with a smile she countered.
When the deadly illness hit, she was jolted but for a bit,
Nothing could save her from deathly fate,
But her smile could never be erased.

The girl sold jasmine flowers
with bright happy smiles,
drenching the dry parched corner
of the busy street
with drizzles of a spring shower.

Her sparkling set of uneven teeth
with a dimple marked
on each dusky cheek,
flashed like the peeping sun
through a thick wall of
dark gray clouds.

I often stood watching her
as the warmth of her lips
extended onto mine,
Almost like my warm cup of coffee
hugged between cold fingers
on a chilly winter morn.

My young flower girl,
With jasmine flavoured smiles
Painted rainbows
In melancholic dark skies.

Soni curls up in the doctor’s clinic. Naughty manners, loving parents, friends. She had everything. Still, six years ago she realized that smiling was turning into ‘muscle exercise’. Soni stopped meeting people, she wanted to be alone. Her mother suspected affairs, her father said ‘growing up’… Now doctor says depression. God! Why did she suffer in shame so long? Depression was an illness like cancer… Soni bursts into tears for the first time in her adult life. When the tears end, she looks up at the smiling doctor, her own lips gently curled. That was a smile.

He hugged me without his warm smile that day but his embrace was warm and longer than usual. Mom informed he had stopped smiling some weeks ago. We took him to AIIMS, the oesophageal cancer was spreading fast, his voice turned hoarse and no food reached his stomach. Papa’s eyes were now perpetually moist, poignant and waiting because of the agonizing pain or the truth or both? As we got him home from the hospital, he was emotionless and stiff almost like a stone, but his puffed face donned a pleasing smile. Motionless void of any pain he only smiled.

Baby Nafisa’s beatific, confident smile after her cleft lip surgery ,her grandmother’s toothless grateful smile , Noyonika,the model’s ravishing smile first with a hint of anxiety then relieved and doubly radiant after her biopsy was negative for cancer, her receptionist’s admonishing ,weary smile after a day full of appointments, her daughter’s welcoming smile back home-all in a day’s work for Dr Nidhi, the surgeon.
Nidhi removed her mask ,the mirror reflecting her crooked smile almost a grimace after the facial nerve palsy- a grim reminder of abuse,power ,patriarchy .Some smiles had sad back stories,not all smiles could be fixed.

Babu’s pickpocketing skills were unmatched.
That day, talking amiably with a client weaving applied-psychology trap, he reverently touched the gold shiva-pendant in chain around his neck before the final stealth of hand, and done!
The wallet exchanged pockets.

He didn’t jump-off the train, instead, like a master artist chatted-on helping the client with route-directions.
The stop arrived, Rupesh the suited-booted unsuspecting client got down and flashed a grateful smile before being engulfed by the crowd. A trifle disturbed by the friendly smile, Babu’s hand creeped to his neck to pay gratitude for the loot, his pendant and chain were gone.

Elated and cheerful Anaya stretched herself. It was her last day in her parents house. She was to marry Rahul today. She had lost her entire family in a tragic fire five years ago in the same house and was the sole survivor. Rahul was her savior in those tough times and helped her get back on her feet. He never spoke of his pain, he had afterall lost his fiancee, her older sister in the fire as well.

Post the wedding rituals, she smiled with joy. He was afterall the reason she had to burn the house down.

Smile – is it a word or an emotion? Five syllables, a facial expression, and yet underneath hide countless secrets.

The smile which starts from the lips and ends at the eyes reflects a happy heart. Its butterfly effect is magical, spreading cheer all around. Then there’s the deceptive smile, a weapon to guard our fears. And yet, there’s also the smile which is a mask, a facade for the world. The one put up to hide our pain from prying eyes.

I wish for the day when all can experience the genuine happiness a smile brings, sans all masks.

I wore a white cotton lace salwar-kurta imprinted with flowers, topped with an emerald-green dupatta, an ideal outfit for a bright summer day. I had applied light makeup with—a touch of mascara, and a hint of rose-colored lip color.

I took my grocery cart and made my way to the aisles. An elderly man sitting in an electric shopping cart pulled up alongside of me and stopped.

“Do you need help to reach something on the upper shelf?” I asked

“A beautiful woman must smile,” he said and sped off.

Immediately, a big smile broke out on my face.

Any parents would be furious upon hearing that their daughter reported an accident she witnessed and also accompanied the victim to the hospital. How do I convince them that it is just human to save an unknown lying in a pool of scarlet fluid?
After answering the questions of the police officials, I anxiously sat on the corridor waiting for the doctors to return from treating him.
Finally, a nurse gestured to me and I rushed to see him. He turned towards me with a slight smile that conveyed gratitude. My hours of stress and agony melted in a jiff.

“She has a natural smile,” they used to gush about my maa. And I believed them. After all, she had prepared five different snacks for fifty guests on the occasion of her own anniversary, without a complaint, and still managed to pose in front of the camera, her lips curved slightly upwards. When I had fever, she used to stay awake, ignoring the nagging ache in her chest, smiling, as if consoling me, “I am there for you, my baby.” A wiser me later on realised that a mother’s smile can be deceptive, for it doesn’t reach her eyes.