The Buddha Smile







Pom's parents believed him to be a miracle child, a gift from Lord Buddha himself, a blessing they received after seventeen years' of marriage. They pledged to provide the very best to him. 
However meager their means, their strength of purpose always shone through. Pom was sent to an International School. 
Pom turned into a beautiful and humble boy. He had a peaceful and calm demeanor and his smile was as pure as Buddha himself. By the time he finished high school, both his parents turned old and weak. Pom refused to enroll into college, completed a course in IT and started looking for jobs. With his impeccable English, in a country where their mother tongue and national language was all that the majority could speak, he didn't have to try too hard to find an IT job with one of the MNCs in the capital.

Before Pom could gain any experience, both his parents fell ill and the Global Meltdown struck...


Aditi was irritated; her parents and in laws were clicking pictures at the Suvarnabhumi Airport and Bharat, her husband went shopping liquor at the duty free. She was battling to calm her yelling toddler all by herself, but whatever she tried only resulted in more chaos. 
They stood at the meter taxi line. Bharat put his King Power packets on the pram.
Aditi decided to sit in front of the cab, next to the driver. They had lived in Bangkok for two years soon after their marriage and Aditi had picked up some Thai. She started giving directions to the driver in her elementary Thai. The driver seemed amused with the whimpering toddler sitting next to him and placed his hand on his little forehead. Much to Aditi's surprise, the whimpering turned into peaceful laughter. Their forty five minute drive to The Grand Centara Hotel was mostly silent, with the people at the back sleeping to their heart's content. The only two people who spoke were the driver and her toddler.
On reaching their destination, Aditi thanked the driver and asked how he spoke such wonderful English. 

With his calm Buddha-like smile, Pom replied, "I learnt it from the movies".

Intrigued by his answer, Aditi watched as Pom drove away in his hot-pink Bangkok taxi.