If you don’t want to smile and wave back at the kids who smile and wave at you then…

Perhaps you shouldn’t come to this country…

And it’s certainly a very easy way to spread some happiness

…[ditto Cambodia and Lao]…

and in an earlier blog, in September, I wrote about how Canadians smile all the time

all the time

unlike Europeans

because of them Canadians all having smiling lessons from the age of five

and all being forced to attend smiling gyms… and even summer smiling camps…where all manner of threat bribery blackmail bullying and outright torture are employed to force them to smile…

where …shouting… tears…physical intimidation… pain... violence … moral arguments… pupil-teacher friend-friend parent-child relationships… even child-toy relationships… [come on son, smile…or owlie gets it]…all manner of authority… anything, even god’s mythical wrath… are dreadfully misused on children in a constant drive to get them in the unstoppable habit… and send them on into a life of bright positive Canadian smiling

[lets face it, it’s the best explanation… what have they so got to smile about… its only Canada… duhhh]

… I know where you go to, my lovelies… you go to a place where Daddy and the teachers are all singing Teddy In The Shredder… Dolly in the Dungeon… and even ...Horsey For The Horrible Death

and I also wrote how we in Europe don’t have smiling lessons, not one, ever

and how smiling doesn’t come too easily to us English

and certainly doesn’t normally come easily to me

…

Well I’ve made a big breakthrough

Or India has made that breakthrough for me

Because I’m always smiling

At the kids who call out smile

At the waiters smile the stallholders smile the clerks smile the bus-drivers smile the ticket sellers smile the fruit-sellers smile the woman on the seat next to us smile

The kids who wave smile

Big smiles

Wide smiles

So i'm doing it too

Because it would be mean not to

To not smile and wave at those wide-eyed friendly kids all beaming with youth and happiness

S o its...

Big smiles

Friendly English all-face iffy-teeth wide-eye round-cheek smiles

With full-handed waves

Giving my much-neglected smiling muscles a much needed workout

Rescuing them from desuetude

Because, lets face it, smiling is the easiest way to be understood

Maybe the only way to be understood

Especially when you don’t even know which language it is that you’re not understanding

And most of the Indians are Super-friendly

And they want to know you want to smile

And you want them to see you smile

So why not smile?

smile

…

Traditionally English people always found Indians impossibly courteous and polite… and often obsequious… unnaturally so

And there’s no doubt they are extremely polite

But, and I may be wrong, I reckon this stems from the fact they… want you to be happy

And the Indians think that being very courteous is the best way to make you happy

there is much misunderstanding across the language and cultural barriers... there are many ways this makes communication difficult so if you simply smile alot you have the best way of achieving what you want... the happiness of the visitor
Though I may be wrong here