Dr.Raji Patil

Imagine a situation.... You waiting in a lounge at the airport or at an office. A person comes, and stations himself opposite you. You exchange glances, and the first thing thats hits your brain is, should I smile or no? So after all the unrequired permutations and combinations, you chose either to smile or to stay expressionless.When you do smile, you get one in return & when you decide to sit with a straight face, you get the same in return. At the end of it you end up feeling, I should have just smiled. Have you ever noticed, a new born baby.The baby, often has a lot of visitors with the weirdest of faces.But he/she always would return you a smile, if you do. Point to be noted here is that...the baby doesn't know you.
When you enter an aircraft, a smiling cabin crew welcomes you, and just like that a boring, lonely journey becomes something that you look forward to.
Stare at the mirror, what do you see just a face....add a smile to it and what do you see a beautiful face.Thats what smile does to your face. It adds value, life, a characteristic,an attribute, a meaning to your face. A smile is an inexpensive way to change your looks.
Coming from the cosmopolitan city of Mumbai, where everybody is conditioned to multitask, smile is a gesture exchanged only amongst known people....so obviously I too never did that on a daily basis. As a result of which I got famous, as being a Khadoos, arrogant, strong headed person. Its only when I got into my practice of being a Dermatologist, that I realized how important it was for me, to share that warm, positive vibe with my patients, that came across, just with the simple act of adding a smile to my expression.
You don't need to have the perfect, Aishwarya Rai or Lara Dutta set of teeth, or the perfectly angled curve of lips to have a perfect smile. A pathetic day at work, could be a easy walk when you smile....cos just the act, would generate a positive aura around you, which could spread like a jungle fire.You are perceived as an approachable individual. Everybody loves to see a happy face. In rare occasions it gets people wondering whats up with her? Even the message/scrap/post with smileys in your facebook or hotmail, catches your attention faster. Its a universal language, that is universally understood. Smiling is one exercise, that can put all your facial muscles into action...no need to pay for that Yoga.

Some say, you need to look beyond the smile, to know a person.....someone who smiles a lot, is the saddest. Life is too short to analyze all these things.Its better to wear a sad smile than not to smile at all.
Moreover Smile...cos its free, trust me it is,and if you don't try it for yourself.