Smile ! There is nothing more powerful

Waiting tensely in the huge dining hall,10 km away from my place,I could hardly control the knot of nervous excitement forming in my gut. It was my 10th birthday and my dad had decided to celebrate my birthday at this home for the aged by making a donation.Though I was a little disappointed about not being able to celebrate it the usual way with a huge cake and birthday presents from everybody who comes to the party,I soon became quite excited about this new way of celebrating.

The sisters who run this home asked me to stand at the center,telling people to come in and have their food.I was thrilled and eager to be actively doing something,but I was also very nervous and curious.However,there was no turning back now.It was time.

People trudged in. A mixture of dark,fair,Indian,Anglo Indian,healthy,weak,very old and a little old, men and women entered. I watched with a kind of naive awe,searching their faces,wondering what their reasons are for living this way,imagining what it would be like to live without any food for days together when nobody makes a donation.

I was fidgety,having little to do at this point except wait for the people to finish their meal,so i focussed on the house director: "lots of people here would love as much to see a friendly smile as to eat the food,so don't be afraid to smile"
This I could handle with great ease. Smiling the warmest and most sincere smile I could muster,I caught the eyes of every person I could,and though a few smiled back,I felt good about it.

One old woman kept lookin at me with an expression of far-off wonderment.Vague gray-brown eyes shone amidst the wrinkled skin of her face and a not-quite-all-there smile beamed out with childlike simplicity.I was greatly touched by her evident pleasure at alternately swallowing a handful of rice and staring at my face. When she motioned me to come over closer ,I was not at all alarmed.Her speech was slurred and gentle.As she reached out her hand to take mine,I felt no threat in her grandmotherly gesture.
"I just wanted to ask u"she murmured sweetly in perfect English,"how much do I owe you for your smile?"
In a laughing rush ,I told her, "nothing" and that aged smile grew even more wide and amazed.
"well,in that case,may I have another?",She asked.
I complied with a helpless blush. She told me that as long as she remembered that smile,she d be doing just fine.
I thought,Me,too.

Sometimes that is all it takes.