Stories behind the happiest smiles

‘Holy crap! I cannot eat this food’, ‘Oh God! I cannot go to college every day’, ‘Frig! How can I live without the AC?’ Sounds familiar? Surely does to many of us because we grew up taking things for granted and why not when we have seen only a tiny part of the world and chose to neglect the not so happy realities. Hallelujah! It is time we start appreciating.

There is a vast reality out there (nowadays even behind well-constructed walls) which we never get in touch with. I luckily or unluckily saw this reality carefully many times. I lived through these realities during my stays at villages and visits to slums, thanks to my tenure at the two NGOs and then a dramatic MBA life which is still on in Rural Management. When I joined my first NGO, I did expect to see some beautiful happy faces at every session, but as time progressed, I actually could see what’s behind those smiling faces. Yes, there is innocence, there is naughtiness, there is love like you have never experienced, but then there is a world of unconquered territories in their eyes which more than often dwindles and vanishes in thin air.


With time, I had started going through the lanes and by-lanes of the slums to meet the parents or knock the doors of the children or to just give a shout out when I see them fooling around. Yes, I mentioned with time because at the beginning I used to stare at those shabby, shady lanes and never even thought of setting foot there. I remember the first day when I had accompanied some volunteers to call the kids, and the lanes, the houses, the living conditions all gave me a sudden reality check which somewhere started a change in me, one fruit of which is an MBA in Rural Management.

A family of four or five cramped into a room which is almost the size of the bed, but still, they are smiling. Standing in the queue to get water every day, standing in line for the loo every day and yet they are bursting with energy. Standing on the road and taking a bath because building a bathroom is luxury and we expect them to perform like any other ‘normal kid’ going to some high profile English or Bangla medium school, but that is not how it can be. It took me time, but I realised that somewhere many of the kids feel studying is a luxury and can be done away with it because at the end of the day it will add up to nothing. I do not blame them at all because now after all these days with them I can see myself in their place and I can think like them.

It is really difficult for dreams and aspirations to walk through those slippery dingy by-lanes of the slums, but slowly it is. We see hope every time a new child comes down and sits through the hours with us. We see hope when a brother gets his sister to the session because he liked the session.

It was extremely satisfying to see so many girls coming up for the classes during weekdays and on weekends alike. When we keep reading about how girls are still oppressed and banished from studies in Northern parts of the nation, these small things are like a silver lining. Some parents were welcoming, some parents were reluctant, but what I took as my happy pill, energy pill are the acceptance and then tried to change the reluctance to acceptance. Nothing happens overnight, and if the change remains progressively constant, it is bound to stay on.

Happiness is a goal, and these kids achieve it every other day despite all the hardships and not so pleasant circumstances. Yes, I remember the kids getting stumbled, getting very tensed or stammering before some event but that is something we all face, what is unique about all of them is that never gave up attitude. I think that is the spirit that their lifestyle teaches them because every day is a fight. Little efforts from our side can bring in a considerable change in their lives because it is all about the mindset and only that can bring in permanent changes in life which many people like us are aiming towards. 

We thought we are giving, but at the end of every session we used to take back the boost up for the rest of the days till the next session, the fuel to go on and the courage to face life. I had read somewhere that smiles can trick your brain to happiness and we all need to learn the trick from these soul charmers.

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