Just imagine you are going from Bangalore to Mumbai by bus and the bus stops before it leaves Bangalore and you are informed you can start your journey only after two hours. How wretched the situation will be! This is what happened to me on that day. Just fifteen minutes after our Volvo bus had left the starting point in Bangalore city, it halted at another picking-point. Usually it should have resumed its journey within five minutes. But, to our dismay, we passengers were informed the bus did not have a national permit so all of us had to wait for two hours till another bus came and picked us up.

The panicked passengers immediately launched into an argument with the bus staff and the manager of the picking-point. How could they issue tickets for the bus that had no national permit? The manager informed they had been expecting the permit by the time the bus would start. But they hadn’t got it so they were bringing another bus from some other travel agency. In the end, out of utter helplessness, passengers decided to wait.

There was a long journey ahead, more than twenty hours to travel. Cursing the management of the bus, I got down and filled my stomach with some light food at the fast food centre on the road side. Still I have one and half an hour to pass. Not knowing how to kill the boredom waiting usually brings I got into the bus and began to observe the passers-by on the road, which is my favorite pass-time.

I saw three teenage girls walking on the pavement. Probably they were going to college; they had small bags hanging from their shoulders. Of the three the girl in the middle attracted my eyes. She was not that beautiful, but good-looking with a pair of green eyes.

Suddenly, she looked up at me and our eyes met for a few seconds. I gave her a warm smile, to which she quickly turned her face away. Maybe she thought me rude. But I kept looking at her till the trio disappeared at the circle. Then I forgot about her soon as my eyes began to chase other girls on the road.

Two hours were over, but still there was no sign of the other bus. We were informed we had to wait half an hour more. As the passengers had become listless, they didn’t put up any protest at all. What a great start, I thought.

As I was staring out of the window, I again saw the green-eyed girl on the pavement along with her two friends. She too looked at me at the same time. First, there was puzzle on her face, probably she was wondering why the bus had been standing there for more than two hours. Then, her features softened and I thought she was smiling at me. Maybe it was my illusion. But one thing was sure there was a spark in her eyes, which I hadn't noticed earlier.

Oh! How beautiful her green eyes were!

The three girls went into the hotel in which I had taken snacks two hours before. For a moment I considered getting out and following them. But my senses thought it rude, so I remained glued to my seat.

After a few minutes the three girls came out and the green-eyed beauty looked at me again. I smiled and so did she. Her response surprised me, but I didn’t know the mega surprise was yet to come.

While passing the bus she unobtrusively dropped a ball of paper on the ground. I was totally mystified whether it was just a piece of waste paper or some letter she had intentionally dropped for me.

I waited for the girls to disappear, and then hurried down. Looking around to ensure nobody was observing me, I quickly bent down, picked up the crumpled paper-ball and excitedly unfolded it. God! There was something written on it.

As I began to read my heart went mmmmmm.....

Hi,

It was my luck you were there in the morning while I was going to college. You know these days all misfortune things in the world are happening to me? Mother scolded me in the morning saying I wasn't doing any household work, so I had to do a lot of cleaning and washing at home today. Then Father told my grades were bad and I was unfit for education, so I should give up studies, get married soon and ultimately go away from him. You know my grades aren’t that bad. I have no bad habits and love my parents a lot. But still I don’t know why I am always getting all these warnings and reproaches from my parents and sometimes my teachers. Maybe I don’t know how to please them; I’m not smart enough to live on this earth. I didn't know what was going to happen to the seminar I had to deliver in the class. Practiced well last night but didn’t remember a bit, thanks to my mummy and papa. You know I made a fool of myself during my last seminar?

Then, you smiled at me. I do know this smile, the smile boys always give to girls. It brightened me and made me think I’m not that dumb, there are people who like me and smile at me. I am attractive and intelligent, amn't I? You don’t know how much confidence your smile has pumped into my lungs. In college my seminar became a success. I told all the rubbish with confidence and oh my God! People liked it. My madam said, ‘Wow! Well done!' This is really what I needed in my life.

When I saw your bus still there, thought I should express my gratitude to you.

Thank you for your smile. I like it.

The letter ended. There was no name or signature at the end. I looked around to see if she was observing me from any corner or curve, but no sign of her.

This was the first time I realized my smile had so much power in it and could affect others so positively. I too should say her my thanks. But how? She was nowhere to be seen.

I closed my eyes and said inwardly, ‘thank you my beautiful green-eyed girl’.