"Why are you looking sad malli? Has the car got a puncture?"
Malli was holding a blue toy car in one hand and the car wheel which had come off, in his other hand. Akka made a joke at malli who was waiting at the corner of the room with a big sad face. She turned the car and the wheel from side to side to have a look.
"Ok malli, we will repair this, bring your old toy box, I remember it having several broken cars." Before long, akka and malli were able to repair the broken blue car by fixing a wheel of another broken car into it.
Malli was very happy.
"Akka, shall we play a game?"
"Malli, give me sometime... I will quickly finish this and come."
"Hmm... Why are you making these flowers?"
Akka had made two roses from fabric, using the leftover pieces of fabric collected by her while mother was sewing clothes.
"Wait and see what I am going to do... My school bag had a tear in it. So, I patched it up with a piece of fabric. I will cover that place with these two roses, then nobody will see the torn place... and the bag will also look very beautiful."
"Akka, you have such great ideas!"
"Malli, we should learn to become happy with what we already have."
"I also like to stay with a smiling face all the time. But akka, I don't understand how to do it."
"Malli let me tell you a small story; I learnt this story from my schoolteacher."
"Will I also be able to stay smiling always, after I listen to this story?"
"Why not? Listen well... There is a very beautiful country called Bhutan in the East-Himalayan region of South Asia."
"Wait a bit akka, I will bring my atlas and return in a second."
Akka and malli together found the location of Bhutan from the atlas. Akka started to narrate her story.
"This country is ruled by kings. A king named Jigme Singye Wangchuck ruled this country from 1972 to 2006. He once said that what matters most to him was the happiness of the people in this country rather than the Gross Domestic Production. This statement became very popular all over the world, so that today the whole world has started to measure the happiness level of the people in each country. This year the first place has been won by Finland."
"Here is Finland."
Malli is fascinated by akka's story.
"Denmark, Norway, Ireland are the next in line!!"
"What's the rank of Sri Lanka, akka?"
"Our country is still around 130. If we try hard, we will also be able to come to the top."
"Don't you think that we will have to work really hard since we are in a very low position."
"Well malli, as per our teacher, this happiness is lying within us."
"Within us!!!!!"
Malli turned his head around in amazement and looked all over his body.
"You can't find it like that child... bring your diary... bring your diary... now write these things to do at the last page."
Malli started to write what akka was saying on the last page of his diary.
"If someone does us a favour, we must say 'Thank you very much...' Also, we must do a good deed for someone everyday as a habit."
"Well, is it like giving my eraser to someone who has forgotten to bring his own to school? Isn't it a help?"
"See, you're getting my point very well. But we won't be able to do any of these things if we don't eat good, nutritious food, do exercise and keep our bodies strong and healthy. It's also very important to have enough sleep and rest."
"We also have to think of new things frequently. We must search for new things and collect knowledge from reading too.
We must get-together with good friends and well-wishers and conduct good deeds as a habit. The most important thing is to work towards a target. As the last note, our teacher told us to keep smiling always - whatever the hardships that come our way."
"That's a very long list, said malli."
"Although the list seems long if we get used to practicing these points taught by our teacher, we will be able to face every obstacle in life with a happy heart."
"Thank you very much akka for telling me such a beautiful story."
While malli said so, akka laughed happily and said, "You're welcome malli", "now let's go and play, it's the time to go and play."
- Nadee Dissanayake
(Translated by Kuluni
Millaniyage)