I like to compare my life with a river, a river that never flows on constant speed, which is sometimes pitiful and sometimes devastating.

My life has gone through many ups and downs. Every pain it has given me has been a timeless lesson. But no matter what, I have never given up my hope and smile. I have always followed where life has taken me.

In every pain, there is happiness that one must look for. In the past years, my life wasn’t very fruitful, as I had given up smiling and never tried to see the beautiful side of life. Believe me or not, it took me years to learn to be happy.

I realised we are not happy because we don’t laugh, as we laugh because we are happy. Then it became a habit fitting me like winter gloves. When life throws lemons at you, you can make lemonade out of it!

I have learned that there are no secrets behind being happy. Wake up every morning and say, “I don’t want anything more’’, and live your life everyday as if it were your last. Then you will learn to smile even when the master of pain is at the door!

Now, when I go through a rough time, I remember the time when I was learning to smile and instantly that sort of relieves me.

— Sijan Raj Mali, Class IX, Siddhartha Vanasthali Institute