Innocence is alive!

I was on my way to work today morning standing in the local in my characteristic, music in ears, book in hands pose, oblivious to the world around me. Then two little school girls got on, about 5-6 years old, probably hailing from the slums. I was oblivious to their presence too. I got a phone call and one of the girls turned to look at me, and during the course of the call, I noticed that this little girl kept staring at me watching my lips move in fluent English and then looking me over in my corporate formals. I was little peeved because I hate eyes on me. Anyway, so I ended the call and returned to my book, but I kept feeling her unblinking stare still on me. Then finally, I decided to do what I generally do to make people stop staring, stare right back into their eyes, challenging them. So I raised my head, put on my sternest face and stared the little girl back in the eye. And then, she did the most unexpected thing. Instead of looking away embarrassed, like most people do, she broke into the most innocent, most endearing, unguarded smiles I’ve seen, and I melted. In return I smiled back, but it wasn’t half as pure and uninhibited. She brightened up my morning, that sweet little thing. God bless her.

It got me thinking, why are we always so on the defensive, why did I mistake the completely naïve inquisitive, admiring gaze of a little girl to be malicious? Why do we always think the world is out to harm us? The sad thing is, somewhere along the way, that girl will also lose that beautiful innocent, full smile and become an untrusting old soul like me.