I could not smile. I did not know how to smile. I knew how to laugh, laugh aloud heartily.

“Chandrika, were you howling a few minutes back?” A batch-mate inquired while I was sitting on the stairs with my friends near the main entrance of the college gate.

“Yup!” I replied. My contagious laughter was a soul elevator, which could take my whole group onward and upward.

“You would not believe I heard your laugh on the opposite gate, about 400-500 meters away and guessed it must be Chandrika, as no one else could laugh so loud.” She said with surprise in her voice.

“Chandrika, I came here to check whether your laugh has created crevices in the old walls and ceilings of college building.” A senior colleague teased me when I was working, as a lecturer and I were cachinnating with the staff members of my department in a free period.

“Chandrika, you teach yoga or laughing?” A middle aged woman who was interested in joining my evening yoga classes asked. “Both.” I replied, as my hearty laugh was a gift of the soul as pure as ringing bells in a temple.

People recognised me because of my noticeable, full of joy and warm-hearted laugh.

Breathe Smile Meditate Let go

I could breathe with ease.

I could meditate for hours and hours.

I could let go of anything.

But I could not smile.

Smiling was a big missing point in my meditation.

I attended the online Creative Writing Course about mastering the craft of writing compelling fiction and non-fiction by Sadhvi Vrinda Om ji. How much I learnt creative writing I could not say but I definitely learnt the art of smiling from her. During the course, I was watching her smiling baby face minutely, her bright, brilliant, and broad smile. She was beaming. She was dazzling.

While meditating, I tried to copy her winsome smile. With practice, I learnt to smile like her. I could Breathe Smile Meditate  Let go very easily. In May, 2020 in my mool Sadhana, Goddess manifested three times, two times I saw the front view and one was side view. However, I was not satisfied with the vision. I felt as if I was watching MA in black and white T.V. I want to see HER in colour T.V. And then in 3D. 😀  

Thich Nhat Hanh said, “Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”

I wish to start this year by expressing my immense gratitude to Sadhvi Vrinda Om ji.