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Jyoti Desal
Her smile beckons me; it is captivating, friendly and full of
warmth. She cuts the paddy stalks rhythmically with the other
womenfolk labouring under the harsh afternoon sun. They giggle as I
wave out to them and ask if I can join them in their work. The woman
with the warm smile shyly points out that such hard work is not for
the likes of me. The rest start laughing. I too join in the
laughter, in response to the simple truth of my inability to swiftly
cut paddy stalks with the sun burning my back. There’s so much hard
work, harsh circumstances, and little leisure in this remote tribal
hamlet. Later she speaks to me about her life cheerfully with no
trace of the grim circumstances that engulf her. She connects with a
smile of contentment.
Happy responses to life’s travails are confounding. Is this mindset
that has decided to quietly accept what life has to offer as one’s
destiny or a smiling ‘dare you’ to challenging circumstances? Surely
it is the latter. In each one of us is the innate desire to connect
to our circumstances, share moment from our life with another and
brave it out. That is the inner core from where each one of us draws
energy to live life through hard times.
A smile reflects what’s inside us and communicates our desire to
experience connectedness with another. Smiling at another is a
fleeting moment, but sublime nevertheless. Contentment is a natural
outcome of engaging in such moments. Leading a meager existence is
not very appealing. Despite that, with few resources to indulge in
materialistic extravagances, there is a simple understanding among
these people on the endless bounty of connecting to others and
finding contentment.
At the other extreme, the modern world is all set on a great march
to fulfil an ever-demanding cycle of needs. Rushing past our fellow
travelers, there is forgetfulness in our behaviour, little attempt
to connect, fear of looking in the eye and displaying feelings. But
the deep reservoir of emotions within us is waiting to connect. It
is in anguish at not being able to express. And in anguish, there is
little scope for contentment. Contentment becomes most elusive, and
ironically becomes a never-ending search for all of us.
In this elusive search, several paths are explored in the hope to
somersault into a life of deep contentment. Whether or not one makes
it to that point of bliss becomes inconsequential if it means
sidestepping connectedness with fellow beings. For even if the need
to connect for the exalted soul becomes less important, there are
many who crave for a connection with another being as a means to
walking the path of contentment.
It is said that all beings are one, but that they manifest in
different forms, and scientific studies have proven that life forms
of all kinds respond to warmth and make an effort to connect. It
must be this fundamental connectedness that beckons me to the warm
smile of a total stranger in a remote tribal hamlet. The lighting up
of a face with an exuberant smile, the brushing aside of the daily
tirades of life and taking the circumstances as a given is nothing
but the opening up of our souls to the many opportunities of
exulting in this moment of existence. Then why the search?
Connecting with a smile is perhaps a way to finding ourselves in a
state of contentment. |
