It’s a curve that straightens things, bridges hearts, melts differences, kindles eyes and eases tension. It costs nothing, but the returns are many. Then why is it such a rarity. Yes, it’s the smile I am talking about!

Too engrossed on life’s mundane rush, too preoccupied with ourselves, or too rigid to overcome the ego barrier perhaps makes it hard to keep that curve on our face. I refer to an incident that occurred when my husband was participating in a workshop by a renowned Guru.

There was an activity in the workshop, in which all the participants had to sit with their eyes closed and had to chant om aloud together for a stipulated time.

Then they had to open their eyes, pick up the roses that were kept next to them and, pouring all their love onto the flower, they had to exchange it with the person next to them, with a smile on their face and with an eye contact. They had to meet as many people as they could and all the time a beautiful Chinese music was being played in the background.

Later, when all the participants were asked to share their experiences, this person, a businessman, had an interesting experience to share.

This person owned a shop. And next to his was that of his rival’s. Both would never even have eye contact with each other, as true rivals would always do. It was a coincident that both were enrolled into the same workshop.

As he exchanged the rose, there stood in front of him his business rival. He said, for the first time, both of them, with a smile and making eye contact, exchanged the flower and he felt so light and happy.

Such is the power of a smile. As Leo F Buscagli, the American guru, a tireless advocate of the power of love, has aptly said,“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

So as they say, “You haven’t lost your smile at all, it’s right under your nose. You just forgot it was there.”