Happy Smiles For You: A Short Story

Author:
Rosina S Khan
Jul 13, 2019 10:29 PM EDT

Introduction

I was on a study tour to a small town from the city abroad accompanied by friends and a guide. When we reached the desired destination, it was evening already. We were requested to wash up and be ready for dinner.

Dinner was bountiful and in various sizes and colors. I stuffed into my tummy as much as I could until I could no more. We were then asked to come to their conference room.

Get to Know Each Other

In that room, we all gathered. Our friends who were also classmates were new. The town university authorities also knew it. So we were all introduced to each other. We memorized everyone’s name as much as we could, and then we had to play a Monkey game.

Get Familiar with the Monkey Game

A person would be blindfolded, and others will be jumping and hopping around him like monkeys. He had to catch one and say his name while blindfolded. If he succeeded in saying his victim’s name accurately, he would be released, and his victim would be blindfolded, and the game would go on.

Myself Being the Victim of the Monkey Game

I wondered what the best way would be to play this game if I ever got caught. I thought of a trick and followed others relaxedly. When my turn came and I was blindfolded, I moved around with my hands spread out and finally, I caught someone and touched his arm gently.

The man said, “ Still couldn’t figure out?” I knew immediately who my victim was. He was a professor of the host university, and we got introduced moments earlier. I mentioned his name promptly, and everyone clapped.

Take-away from the Monkey Game

The Professor said, “How did you figure out so quickly?” I replied, “I recognized your voice when you spoke.” For the rest of the game, everyone remained quiet and alert in order not to be victims and to defeat the blindfolded opponent. Haha! At least I learned something from the game, and the others got their lessons as well. Sounds like loads of fun? Right!

Split up into Groups

The next day there were several sessions on learning and understanding. Then the authorities relaxed and asked us to split into groups and share funny story tales.

As group members of my team were pouring out stories of their own, I prepared myself to tell a story from real-life experience.

My turn came in, and I started to speak. It was as follows:

“I have a bank account and I can access it from several branches within the city. One day I decided to go to the main branch and deposit some money. But in the process, I lost directions and forgot the stopping place. While I was wondering what to do next, another branch of the same bank was in sight with its name spelling out boldly. So I got off the train and went inside the branch to make the deposit. My errand was done, and I was on my way to finish other errands.”

Therefore, that was the story about how I often got lost in the big city where I lived and eventually carried out my tasks in hilarious alternative ways.

Did that make you smile?

The Questionnaire Fill-Out

After sharing our fun story tales from real life, we were all called back to the conference room and take our seats. I sat next to an Indian male classmate, and we were handed in questionnaires. We were asked to form groups of two and answer the questionnaires without consulting each other.

It so happened that the Indian classmate became my group member. We quietly started filling them out and in the next 10-15 minutes, we were all done. What was this all about?

The Questionnaire Analysis

The questionnaire was about my group member, and I had to answer yes/no questions about him by guessing or knowing him so far and to consult him later after filling out was finished to find out how much I had scored based on correct answers.

The amusing moments came in when my classmate came to know that I considered him a religious person, but he denied being so and further added that he hardly prayed unlike the other Hindus of his community back home.

Cultural Costumes Show

Then approached the last night we would be staying in the town. We were asked to dress in our cultural costumes. I wore a black and red gorgeous salwar kamese, which was the native dress for a girl like me back home. I also wore makeup, lipstick, and earrings. I looked super attractive in this getup.

Another Bangladeshi guy came in and wore a lungi over his trousers. I laughed my head off. Because yes, lungi was a native costume but people wore it indoors back home to relax.

The Show Continues until Bedtime

We sat on chairs and positioned ourselves to take photos with others who originated from other countries, and yes, we had great fun and chatter until it was time to retire to bed.

Our Voices in Multiple Languages

The next morning we sat down with professors and authorities who asked us to speak in native languages. They wanted to know how our languages sounded. Everyone talked fluently, smoothly and gracefully.

When my turn came, I used lots of English words, stammered, paused and then spoke. Finally, I had to confess, "Sorry, I am bad in Bengali.” And everyone chorused into laughter. And it made me smile too.

Conclusion

That afternoon we had lunch together for the last time and got on the bus that would take us to the train station where the appropriate train would carry us back to the city where we lived and studied.

It was a memorable stay in the outskirts of the city. We had a good round of merrymaking, laughter, dining and above all, learning the valuable lessons of life.