He Owed Me a Total of One Smile! ❤️

"Your credit card seems to have declined Sir."- muttered the counter lady.
"Would you have another?"

So, this happened. Two days only from today, I dogged outside to walk by the grocery store next to my residence in Noida. I am saying dogged because when you're home alone, you are generally in a fatigued head out of nothing and it takes all the guts to re-assemble your bones and persuade them to take your soul on an outing before your flatmates type-in 'Irresponsible' on the WhatsappChat. So, yeah, it was my turn to go family shopping that evening.

I Hate It.

"I am doing it only for you."- I said, holding a packet of Penne Pasta in my hands. Not in my head, I really said it loud.

After I was done shopping, pretty much with everything in my basket (And, I am pro at making good enough excuses for the stuff I usually forget), I moved towards the billing counter which had a queue of about 4-5 shoppers. After sliding myself to the end of it and keeping my heavy basket to the ground, I began to check out the chocolate rack which is usually placed around the billing counter.

Disclaimer: Lalit shouldn't be kept waiting near the chocolate bars, or else, it only multiplies his grocery amount.

5-7 minutes of waiting resulted into one of the most intense conversations and nostalgia of all the time. Wait, I am telling you what happened.

Just when I came as close as second in the queue to get my groceries paid, I couldn't help but tuned in to the chat exchange between the counter lady and the man who stood ahead of me. Now, this person, if I had to go by his looks, was an Army man in his early 40s (wearing a military jacket with the name plate on it and a very mucky trouser) trying to shop for some good food and baby products for home (I did wonder, why he couldn't shop all that from an Army canteen where he could have afforded it all at non-taxable costs.).
By the way, their chat emerged something like this-

Counter Lady- "Your credit card seems to have declined Sir. Do you have any other?"

Army Personnel- "I am afraid I don't."

CL- "Would you like to try cash to make the payment, Sir?"

AP- "Yes, sure. How much?"

CL- "The total is Rs. 1829"

AP- (He looked into his wallet for cash and became clear that he was short, after juggling between his wallet pockets) "I have around Rs. 1260 in cash. How much is the total excluding the diapers?"

CL- (after carting out the diapers from her computer screen) "Rs. 1380"

AP- "Please exclude the milk cartons too. How much, then?" (He was totally, calculating)

CL- "Now, Sir, it's Rs.1230."

AP- "I don't think I can afford the diapers and milk in cash right now. Bill me the rest of it."

I could totally figure out embarrassment and disappointment on the Personnel's face. He seemed to be very helpless. On the other hand, our queue was only adding in number.

"Excuse me!"- My inner-self jumped right into the middle of the scene. "How much is the total of both, if I can know?"- I asked breaking the queue and coming in the front.

Until this point, I didn't even look at the Army Person and was looking straight at the lady behind the counter.

CL- "It's Rs.449 + 150 =  Rs.599 in total for only these two."

"I will take that. Please add that up to my bill. Let him have the diapers and milk"- I voiced in a soft pitch, smiling at the Army personnel who looked startled. He didn't take a second to say- "Are you really sure, young man, because 600 is too much?"

I, for almost, expected that line of formality by the Army Person (since I come from a very identical background) and, hence, I was ready with an answer.

"I really appreciate your service, Sir. And, believe me, I work hard enough to atleast afford this much. So, there are no worries at all."- I said grinning at him.

"It is my pleasure, and thank you very much young man"- said his unsettled reddened face.

He paid his cash, just after this conversation. And, the lady in-charge started to pack all the products for the man before it was my turn.

"I will be honest, I am going through a very hard time right now, and my credit card seems to have given up too." He said, sarcastically smiling at me.

"I can totally relate. At some point or the other, we all go through hard times. You'll surely deal it with grace, Sir, one day at a time."

"May god bless you, Beta"- The only informal word-of-mouth I got to hear from him.

"Thanks. Nice to meet you."- Smiled again.


He left just after that. It was such an amazing experience to have. When I said- "I can totally relate", I wanted to say so much but simply couldn't due to shortage of time and space. But, now that I am penning it all down, I can atleast tell you about how I could relate to all this.


Being born in a family where death news arrives not in notice but in the television headlines, is never easy. I have seen a lot of 'woman from the family faint right after she over-hears her husband's name on a news channel' cases. I have known cases where Diwali crackers came in-hand, in the month of March when the son of a longing mother arrives after 3 years of guarding the borders. I know families where the mother asks the son to prepare for defense services in order to take over from where his elder brother, who's no more, left. But, one thing that has remained constant at the end of all of this is-

A new dawn is on its way to the horizon! ❤️

That's where my biggest lesson in life comes from. And, I realised it only when I quoted the Army personnel- "One day at a time". Believe me, the day you understand how much of time does these 24 hours or 1440 minutes or 86000 seconds offer, you will have your entire life changed the next moment. There are 86000 seconds of opportunities passing by you everyday, you have to stand up for what you love doing and do it with utmost passion and dedication. And, that's all.

That was my one good deed for the day. I have a plan- Let's make a habit of doing one good deed a day to get a smile in a return. You don't have to be helping in money all the time. Just help a stray dog cross the road, or take your sibling on a fun ride out of nowhere and nothing. Gift your Mom the haircut she wants on you (just kidding on this one, mine got me bald very recently) or help your Dad with work or do whatever you can get a smile in return for. Simple!

We're collecting smiles, remember! ❤️

Now, let me begin with you- Did you enjoy reading this?