Say Cheese!


Point a camera at my one and a half year old niece and she will drop whatever she’s doing and give a smile. Or what she thinks is a smile anyway! Makes for good photos, so who’s complaining?

Contrast that with the way most Indians, at least the older ones, pose for photos. (If you don’t believe me, go look at the albums your parents have). They will either refuse to smile at all, or if they do, it looks very put on. Well actually, it even looks like a constipated expression at times. Hardly the recipe for fond memories or what?

So why is that? Were times tough back then? Was there so little to smile about that people had forgotten how to smile, I wondered? I used to think so until I saw these portraits of some Indians kings and queens:


Notice what’s common? None of them has even the hint of a smile. Surely these guys had plenty of reasons to smile. After all, they led, well, a king’s life! Surely, the king who killed the tiger could have smiled?

So is the reason that most Indians don’t smile that they were unwilling to show the slightest signs of happiness? Did they believe that it might jinx everything? Or that the gods were petty and would strike you down because you were happy?

On the other hand, why do so many Indians smile for photos today? Is it a Western influence, perhaps? Possible, because my niece was born in the US!

Comments

  1. KumarMay 26, 2012 at 9:15 PM

    (Please allow me a paragraph by way of preface:) Some Hindus have pride about their religion. Often their reason for pride is not justified. But they could take pride in the following.

    The Hindu gods are actually described as 'beings' having a natural, pleasant smile! The word "mandahaasa vadana" is one such Sanskrit expression meaning 'the smiling face'so often used, while describing the gods.

    Even further, the Upanishads declare that the state of enlightenment (if you follow Buddhism) or liberation (if you follow the usual Hindu terminology)has the characteristic of "ananda" which means "inherent happiness/natural joy/bliss". And, a joyous or happy person smiles, not frowns! (A liberated soul experiences 'sat-chit-ananda' [ananda = happiness or bliss], the ultimate expression of the essence of God, as far as Hinduism goes.)

    Even if we have no interest in enlightenment, we all can win others just with our smiling faces. We should smile easily and often. We simply did it when we were children - as we grew up we lost this magnificent characteristic in us. We can get it back, if we try.

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