THE HAPPY GIRL

THE HAPPY GIRL

It was a lovely Saturday morning. Being a weekend, I already had plans with my friends. Meet up at Thane, go shopping, then a grand lunch at Pop’tates, coupled with a long photo-session.

I woke up with enthusiasm & started getting ready. Keeping in mind that I had to look good in the pictures, I had already applied a face pack the night before. After washing off the face pack, & doing other early morning chores, I went for a long hot shower. Bathing myself in the best of the washes, conditioners & scented soaps, I came out of the bathroom- all glowing. Dressing up in my new multi-colored Kurti, I applied some makeup, set my hair & applied a fresh pink lipstick. A hint of some cologne, & I was ready to go. 

I put on my new Pink Sling bag, took my cell phone, & checked myself in the mirror one last time.

Perfect!

“You are looking beautiful!” said my Dad. (As always ;)

With a wide smile, I put on my heels & opened the main door.

“Mom… I am looking good naa?” I called out to my mommy dearest, for her approval & obviously expecting a “YES!”

Instead, it appears, my mom was in a witty mood, & she said, “What if I say that this isn’t really looking as good? You anyways do not have the time to go change, so why are you asking me now? ;)

& there went all my enthusiasm & all my joy. All the feeling of “perfection” dissapeared within a second. All the excitement & happiness gone with just a single (witty) sentence.

Tears welled up in my eyes.

Let me quote here that I am a very very emotional person. You can make me cry with the smallest of nasty comment. I can fill buckets with my tears if you say one single rude word to me. So you can very well imagine my mood now, after my mom’s comment – that too, when looking “the best” was my only motto of the day!

So, back to the story. Tears welled up in my eyes! Leaving the house with a red nose & wet eyes. I took an auto & reached the station. The train had just arrived, & thus I got a nice window seat.

I settled down- arranging my bag, covering my head with a scarf, putting on my glares & tucking in my earphones. 

“Yo! Wassuupp!! Kidhar hai?” my friend’s whatsapp message beeps.

“Just took the train”

“Kitne baje tak you’ll reach?”

“By 11:30 I guess..”

“I am wearing green today... what are you wearing?”

“Just a bakwas kurti yaar..”

“Oyye.. What happened? All fine?”

“Naaa.. Nothing much.. I am looking soo horrible today!!”

“C’mon.. You must be looking just perfect! Like always!”

“No yaar.. Even mom said…achi nai dikh rahi.. this alwaysss happens with me yaaar.. Whenever I want to look theee best, something happens & I end up looking bad!”

“array.. chill! Achi dikhegi in pics!”

“Noo.. I won’t! :’( I am looking bad... why does God do that to me... I get tanned, I am fat… even my hair isn’t straight! God just hates me!! :/”

“I can understand why you talking like this. But chill. I am saying na.. you bus feeling like that cuz aunty pulled your leg!”

“Yeah... Maybe... Whatever!”

The conversation ended there. & the silence was taken over by “Hasee Toh Fassee’s” hit song “Drama Queen”…

I was still wondering about the same thing, completely lost in my own thoughts of how I look, how I could look, how some people look & why God does “naa-insaafi” with me!

Suddenly, I was poked at the corner of my waist. Assuming it was some aunty probably “propering” her duppatta, I ignored it & played the second song.

Again the poke. Ignored by me.

A poke for the third time!

That was it! I furiously turned my neck to see who this crazy woman was, who couldn’t keep her hands to herself. I was about to snap a “Thikse betho naa”, when I stopped mid-sentence.

A girl, probably of my age.

Pretty.

Long hair- tied in two plaits. With a bunny hair-band.

Dressed in a fresh, flowery dress.

A huge sheepy smile, wide across her face.

One hand tightly clasping on to her mom’s bag, & the other hand in the air.. Fingers moving, as if calculating something.

Tongue stuck out.

Wide eyes, filled with ­­­­­­­­awe.

She was very happy, certainly dumbstruck by the train travel, & the passing scenes. She was clapping her hands & making gushing sounds, trying to speak to her mother.

Yes, the girl was mentally challenged.

It took me a while to digest it. I mean, not that we never know the existence of such people or this was something new. However, looking at Priyanka Chopra in Barfi is one thing & actually looking at a girl like this one, is completely another.

“Train se kitne dino baad aayi hai ye…” her mother was talking to the other female who was accompanying them. Probably, the happy girl’s aunty.

They both continued with their merry chitchat while I continued observing the happy- girl.

[Yes, within those few moments, I had already named her as the “happy-girl”, such infectious was her pure happiness.]

Happiness of travelling by a local train.

She was looking out the window, completely immersed by the outside view, oblivious to the chitchats & chaos inside the train. Oblivious to me- staring at her. She was just happy in her own sweet world. The passing lake made her clap her hands, & the halt of the train at the next station made her laugh. People rushing in, pushing each other made her giggle, while one scary looking woman made her tug at her mother’s bag!

In the meanwhile, the woman who was sitting opposite her got up & the happy girl wanted to sit there- at the window seat. She got up with a great difficulty, holding on to her mother’s hand, putting one foot forward, then grasping her aunt’s hand & sitting down- or should I say tumbling down? Finally, after so much of the effort, she got the window seat. The next thing done was- immediately holding on to her aunt’s bag. & there. That was it. The happy girl was settled down once again & back into her own world. Of looking at the birds & the scenes, of laughing & clapping, of being awed & excited.

So much of happiness over such a petty thing.

So much of happiness in spite of being challenged.

So much of happiness, that put me to shame for being disappointed over not looking “as good”.

Isn’t that exactly how life is? It teaches you the biggest of the lessons in the weirdest of the manners.

While I was being unhappy over not looking good, there was a girl of my age who was happy, just because she was travelling by a local train.

While I was teary-eyed over a simple witty comment, she was laughing at the passing scenery.

While I was blaming God for being unfair towards me, there was a girl clapping her hands just because she saw a river.

While she was holding on to her mother’s hand all the while, my hands were busy whats-aping the whole world.

While she had to take the support of her mother & hold her hand, merely to get up & sit down, I had traveled all the way by myself.

While she was struggling to convey her feelings through words, I had kept mum because I was just bored of talking.

While I had cursed the entire world, just because I thought I wouldn’t look good in the pictures, there was the happy-girl, wide eyed, with the sheepy smile, being as happy, as if the world had just granted her the biggest gift.

That’s how we are.

That’s exactly how we all are.

& how we behave.

WEIRD.

We never realize how blessed we are.

We never realize that the small-small things that we get, are the things, which some people can never even think of.

We never realize that the things that we take so much for granted, are a huge blessing to some others.

We never realize that the things that are “the most obvious” to us, are huge achievements for some others.

While you cry over a spoiled selfie, a girl out there cannot even hold a camera.

While you go angry over a sarcastic comment, a guy out there can’t even hear his “school friends” calling him a “Retard”.

While you blame God because you scored just one mark less than what you expected, out there is a family of girl who thanks God because their daughter uttered her first word at the age of 18.

We are all really blessed. We are all really lucky. 

Instead of blaming God over something that he did not give you, shouldn’t we all just thank him because he still gave us a lot?

Blessings are not the fulfillment of all our wishes.

Blessings are just sweet realizations- of having something, for which you probably didn’t have to put in any efforts.

So, take a moment, close your eyes & just thank God- for all that you have, be it less or be it more.

He gave you a life, He made you see the sunlight today morning, He let you hear the chirping birds & He let you have a lovely morning walk… what else do you need to feel blessed?

~gAuRi