A Woman’s Smile is Priceless
Why does a woman’s smile set a man’s heart aflutter — A personal encounter
Smile
Some say a smile improves the brightness of your face, but a woman’s smile, on the other hand, is simply magical. It becomes as radiant as sunshine.
I am attracted to beautiful women, especially those who have genuine smiles.
But this attraction changed as I grew from high school, to college, to being adult. Change in my life’s perspective, I guess.
Reminiscing Old Days
As a young engineering college kid, I used to take an early morning bus to commute to college. I always looked forward to traveling in an express bus. Not because I was enthusiastic about going to college early. It was because that bus was filled with many beautiful female college students.
Most of these women had already boarded the bus in earlier stops, and they occupied the remaining empty seats. They were in a small group and sitting in the rear of the bus, and they talked incessantly.
When I boarded the bus most of the seats were already occupied. I would be either standing or sitting further away from this gang of beautiful talkative women.
They studied in different colleges from mine that majored in the Arts department. After 30–45 min ride, I would get off the bus couple of stop earlier than their college.
This was the age when there was no internet or cell phone. Pure bliss. No distraction or information overload.
I had ample opportunity to appreciate beauty during that ride. As you can guess, I was not reviewing my homework during the commute either.
It was not always easy for me to glance at these chatty women in a moving bus.
During that era, most guys had a biased opinion, that women who studied “Arts” were always more attractive than those nerdy women who studied science. It is more like, grass is greener in other departments. The fact was, there were many attractive women in my engineering college too.
Hoping for a Smile From a Woman
Being a young kid, I would take a quick glance at some of these pretty beauties, and have a remote hope of getting a smile, and maybe striking a conversation.
Even though I had zero confidence in talking with beautiful women, here I was just hoping for a smile.
In this moving public bus, I made several attempts to elicit a smile. I tried for few days without success. No women would even look at me, let alone smile and talk.
This went on for few weeks, and then ….
Finally, a Smile
One fine morning, I boarded the same bus. I was confident that day as I was wearing a brand new freshly ironed crisp new shirt. I felt a new “me”. I had a confident look and probably carried a smile on my face.
I was standing quietly and happened to turn around to glance at these beautiful women sitting at the back seat of the bus. I do not know whether it was the shirt, or me, but at that instant, one of the beautiful woman looked towards my side. Our glances locked. Instantly, not sure who initiated the smile, but she looked at me squarely in eyes, and smiled at me.
Oh man!
That smile was so heavenly. I saw “heart-shaped” sign everywhere. This was not like I was falling in love with her.
Since I do not remember who smiled first, I looked at her and smiled.
That was one of the most beautiful days of my life.
From that day onwards, I was looking forward to boarding the exact same bus.
In that bus, if any of these beautiful woman happen to look at me and give me a smile, I would remain happy for days. It was as if I was in cloud nine.
If someone is in cloud nine, it means he or she is extremely happy, joyful, or elated. They are experiencing a high level of happiness and contentment, as if they are floating on cloud nine, which is considered to be a state of pure bliss and euphoria.
It is as if she only looked at you and smiled.
The day a woman looks at me and smiles, that day and for few days forth, I had a new glow. I would focus and complete my studies sooner. I will even carry a perpetual smile on my face.
Strange change in my behavior. Otherwise, studies was boring.
I also felt I was more handsome than anyone else in the world.
Power of a Woman’s Smile
Imagine the power of that smile from a woman.
Yes a woman’s smile can do wonders, especially to a man who adores her.
You feel special. Stir positive feelings. Flutter his heart.
If I were a young bureaucrat with a college kid mindset, I probably would have signed any documents that woman would have presented in front of me. Like it happens in one of those comedy movie. If I were a teacher, I would have given her better grades.
Such is power of a woman’s smile.
Expectation of a smile
Following that first smile, next time I started looking forward to getting onboard that exact same bus, and seeing that woman again.
That means, I was setting expectations for a smile from that woman again.
I guess it is only human. If someone smiles at you first time, you are hoping that when you run into that person next time, they will acknowledge and smile again.
If she was not on that bus, I was slightly disappointed. Being young, I was open to other options. There were other beautiful women during the morning commute.
But I was rooting for the first woman who looked straight into my eyes and smiled.
Happier Moment
If that woman was present, and if our glances matched again, then I would smile immediately. She in turn would return my smile.
This was a heavenly moment. I never enjoyed college so much before.
More than cloud nine situation here.
Because this confirms one more thing. She genuinely smiled looking only towards me.
There were no other guys sitting next to me in the bus trying to steal or hijack that smile coming towards me.
I had a feeling the smile from that beautiful woman was only, and only meant for me.
We never once spoke to each other. Inside the crowded bus, there was a wide distance, between where I would get in and where they were sitting.
We never got the opportunity to be close. Neither did I make an effort to approach and strike a conversation. I was happy with exchanging smiles.
Disappointment
One time that woman did not return my smile. That day I would wonder why she did not smile at me.
It would bother me for some time. I would analyze the reason.
I would recount all the days she smiled at me, and see if there was anything common, versus, the day she did not return my smile.
With my naive mindset, I would foolishly conclude, it must be my shirt. The days she smiled at me, I was wearing one particular color or print or type of shirt. The day she did not return my smile, then I would conclude it must be that other shirt, such as a pink shirt or a square prints, or a cheap brand.
Was I superstitious? Certainly.
Can you blame that woman for my stupid thinking?
At that young age, these are all manufactured thoughts to convince myself that outside factors are responsible. I never once thought, that maybe, she was not in a mood, or maybe she did not see me in that crowded bus.
My commute went smoothly during my four years of college. During that time, I came across many women in the bus who would smile, or turn me off, or ignore me.
Although I have never spoken at length or dated with any of those women traveling in the bus, we had developed a familiarity. We both were college going kids.
We were young and eager to make friends. We would exchange glances, and if we make an eye contact, we would say “hi” to each other.
Occasionally, if I am sitting or standing close to each other, we would a short conversation about our college and make small talk with other beautiful women in the bus.
Conclusion
That particular woman who gave me her first smile during my first year in college stopped commuting after a year. I guess she must have graduated, or changed college.
Since I did not attempt to talk to her, I would never know. I did not bother asking her companions about her, leading to false impression that I am interested in her.
Every year since then there would be a new batch of women, along with some familiar faces. The saga of interacting with students from other colleges continued throughout my commuting period. It was loud and lots of fun.
I have interacted with other pretty women in my college. But nothing seemed engaging and worth remembering.
Even though we never spoke or dated, I will always remember that first smile from that beautiful woman on the bus.
I hope you enjoyed reading about my interactions with fellow students during my younger days in college. Looking back it looks immature and childish. But I had fun and enjoyed the commute immensely.