A Cause

I was in the train travelling with one of my best friends from Mumbai to my hometown when I received a text message from my school saying that I have been chosen the President for R.O.O.T.S.

Reach Out 4 Ones To Smile (R.O.O.T.S.) is a students club of our school associated with Operation Smile. Being chosen as the President for the club that would be working for such a wonderful cause was more than I could ever ask for. I did hear about Operation Smile a lot but I was not quite familiar with it. Instantly I did a quick internet search on Operation Smile and then and there I knew that I wanted to work for it and bring a change.

What exactly is a Smile?

If you go by definitions, it is a pleased, kind or amused facial expression, typically with the corners of the mouth turned up and the front teeth exposed. But believe me, a smile is so much more than just these few words. It is a facial expression through which people can read you, interpret you. Not just people but even when you look at yourself in the mirror and smile at yourself you know exactly how and what you feel. The lips are a muscle such that it can take whatever form you decide you want them to take. It is a clever enough muscle that even in your lowest of days it fakes a curve just so that your emotions stay hid. We often hear,

“A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.”

These very words were said by Phyllis Diller. But did he once think about those who were not fortunate enough to be gifted with a smile? Think about one day of your life without your lip muscles being able to pull in to a smile. If you would ask me to live one day without a smile, I’d be devastated. I smile all the time and cannot imagine a day go by without smiling.

Now just pause and think about all of those who are born with facial deformities, a facial deformity as such where you can not only “not” smile but also the kind which makes you look different from all of the others. The facial deformity is that of the cleft lip or cleft palate. Put yourself in the shoes of one those kids with cleft. Do you think you would be able to attend school? Think of all the humiliation and insults that you would be facing every single day at school or any public place. Being looked at a million times by people because you’re different than the rest is not a very easy situation to be in. And the embarrassment and humiliation is not the only difficulty would face. Accompanying these deformities might be a multitude of medical problems including ear disease, chronic ear infection, malnutrition, dental problems and difficulties in speech development. Carrying these burdens with you would make life a whole lot harder to survive.

Considering all of this don’t you think you would want to help people with such deformities? I don’t know about you but once I came to know about it all and saw the kids for real, I was so moved and touched that I wanted to work for this cause more than anything. Being able to give people, especially children, the chance to smile and lead a normal life makes me more elated than ever. Especially in a country like India where every three minutes a child with a cleft lip or cleft palate or even so both at times is born, to work for a reason as such is so very appreciated. Every child has the right to lead a normal life without being taunted for a deformity that is not his/her fault. We are all children of God born to smile.

To work for a cause that helps bring change to million lives is an opportunity that one should not pass by.

Every morning I wake up, look at myself in the mirror and embrace this wonderful gift of a “SMILE.”