The man who did not stop smiling.

Cyril Trobé, wore a worn-out upper lip, a lip that you get by excessive smiling. He had had more smiles in one day that any normal person would have in a whole week. It was not that he had a life much different from the average joe, but that somehow he got afflicted by probably a 'compulsive smiling' disorder - he would see the stars in the sky and smile, he would not be able to see the stars in the sky and that would make him smile too, he would notice a pretty girl gazing at him and he would smile, he would even smile at being pointedly ignored by the same pretty girl too. Once his mother had been overly puzzled at his smiling at seeing disgusting beggars in the market streetn and even more scandalised when his smile turned into a wide grin at observing some "mature" movie posters on the market walls. His habit had left quite a few people around him perplexed, they felt alienated as if they have been left out of a joke or that one had been made on their expense. As a child he had been constantly punished by teachers for they felt that he found something funny about them or he had done something mischevious and theyd never know. So punish him might as well. What was even more frustrating was the he would smile even during the punishment, as if he found it funny and was the least bothered. His non-chalance was greatly disturbing to some of the teachers. I used to sometimes wonder about why were people so worried about a person smiling? Especially since he smiled in a warm cordial way, the manner which personality development books say would make you very popular among everyone. The smile in itself should have been no problem, it was not a toothy grin - the one that gives the wearer a devious look, nor was it a suppressed smile - one that gives the feeling of a well-kept secret, neither it was a broad ear-to-ear grin one that makes you think probably the situation more funnier than you thought. After some thinking, I thought it was not the smile but the length at which Cyril kept on smiling. Morning,afternoon,twilight,evening,night - in fact I think he smiled in his sleep, dreams and nightmares too. The very thought was extremely alien to me, how could somebody be all the time, he was too idealistically content. No one can afford to be content nowadays, they say being content makes you too casual in your job, in your studies, in your relationships - so you should always be trying to reach the next level. What is the next level you didnt know, no problems, those who advocated this approach said that you had to define the next level yourself since it had not been done yet. The result is that everyone compares what they do or have or even their friends, boyfriends, girlfriends with what the others around them have, or those filmstars in the newspapers have - and they know they have not reached the next level an they are not content. This made Cyril a problem for many people. It appears that around Cyril people began to doubt their own sense of humor and some even began to question their own personality and lives. (to be continued in next post ....)