The smile that never was.

He had always thought, he was much too level-headed to fall for one of those "Love at first sight" syndromes, relegating it solely to the realms of those mushy Bollywood movies, where the characters had all the time in the world, to pursue the call of their hearts. Fate, however had dealt him a cruel hand, and rendered him incapable of conjuring up any sort of fantasies of the romantic kind. He had lost his father at the young age of 7, a result of a mishap at the factory where he worked. His mother worked odd jobs and managed to eke out a barely hand-to-mouth existence for the family. With great difficulty, he managed to make it to class 5, after which the circumstances at home, forced him to take up a job, to assist his ailing mother. By the age of 10, an age at which kids discover the world of Xbox and Nintendo, Raghav had lost the innocence of childhood and been forced to become a man.

8 years working variously as a cleaner, a waiter, and a cook, at the Udupi restaurant at the corner of the street, had left him with enough, to make a trip to Dubai, where an uncle, had promised him a job. The hope of seeing his mother lead a comfortable life, was enough incentive for Raghav to accept his offer. Once the decision was taken, the days leading up to his departure flew in a flurry of activities. There were provisions to be bought, relatives to be informed and all the documents to be readied before he was to board the plane. The last requirement was the one, that found him at the photographer`s dingy studio, on a balmy Sunday evening. The last time he had stepped into this studio was during happier times, when as a kid, he had come here with his father. There had been a contest on Children`s day, where the cutest kid would have his picture published in the newspaper and his father had decided to send his pictures to the editor. That day, eating the cotton candy, when he had his father all to himself, had been the happiest of his young life. He felt a lump in his throat, as all those childhood memories came flooding back, and he had to hastily blink back tears. It was as he was in the act of composing himself that he saw Her.

There she stood at the counter talking to the shop assistant, her hair billowing in the breeze of the rickety table fan, that stood in the corner. She had the most innocent face he had seen on a girl ever, the kind of face that makes you feel protective towards a person. She was dressed in a Salwar Kameez, and the aura of simplicity surrounding her,seemed to make her face glow. As the door closed behind him, she turned in his direction. One look at her, took his breath away. All those feelings, which he had thought were dead and buried, threatened to come bursting forth. He instinctively smiled at her; one of the very few times he had felt like smiling in his life. The look that she gave him killed the smile, as suddenly as it had appeared on his lips. It was a hard, cold look that froze him in his tracks, and made him regret his decision instantly. A thousand thoughts came to his mind. Maybe, she was one of those who had guys smiling at her all the time, in an attempt at unsolicited friendship, and the experience had made her wary towards them. Or maybe, her over-protective mother had warned her against smiling strangers. Whatever the reason, he felt strangely jilted, as if he had been spurned by a close friend, which surprised him, since she was a stranger, who he had met just a few minutes earlier. He instantly termed her a snob, and banished all thoughts of her from his mind, as he followed the photographer into the inner room to get his pictures taken.

When he walked out after a few minutes, the girl was gone. He however, noticed something that, captivated by the presence of the girl, he had initially failed to. There were pictures of the girl strung on every wall, with a brilliant smile lighting up her face, in each and every picture. "Just like I thought. A model, who probably has hundreds, following her every move. Why would she smile at a nobody like me?", he thought morosely as he turned to walk out of the studio.

However, he felt he had to know who the girl, who had so influenced him was, and retraced his steps. Very reluctantly, he pointed up at the picture and asked the shop assistant about her.

The man beamed up at him and said,"Aaah..I see, you have been taken in by the smile too. Not surprising. She would have been so happy to see someone appreciate her for that. You see, she is quite Blind".