SAY CHEESE….

This is about a studious little girl who was really shy to mingle with people  and hesitated to laugh even during the funniest moments of her growing years.

Yeah…’twas  me who had this  complex about my unevenly aligned tooth during  high school days . Just then my milk teeth were getting replaced by permanent ones …( not fully replaced till date, only  28/32  I have , may be why I haven’t yet developed wisdom )

While in 7^th Standard , one fine morning , there was this announcement about the “DENTAL CAMP” the next day ,in our school campus ,by a Dentist who had recently moved to our town Sathyamangalam (a small town in Tamil Nadu)India then and would reward the girls who had healthy tooth.  

We had no idea about  the camp….

The D day arrived.  Upon seeing the arrival of the Dentist, many girls rushed to the wash area with tooth powder, tooth brush, tooth paste , some even brick powder …as contingency measure and had their tooth cleaned.

During our class’ turn , after examining me , while I was moving out , heard the Dentist asking some teaching staff who I was, which I ignored. The camp was over by that evening.

The next day morning after the prayers , our Head Mistress Ms.Sundari announced the names of the prize winners   , as it is customary, with a little pause…..

The first prize goes to…………”S.MANJULA , 7^th C “

Wooooooh…..'Twas me…….. surprise ….One of the BIGGEST moments of my life …….. which made me say cheese….

And  the second prize was for my friend and classmate YASMEEN…. (Beautiful & lovable lass …still I remember her face, her handwriting, her polite nature and what not)

We were rewarded with a fountain pen (Rs 11/-) each with a transparent section in the middle of it to monitor the ink level (Brown color) which I used until completion of my high schooling which made me  really proud though it could not eliminate my complex about the tooth alignment until it got settled at 15.

The Dentist befriended my father who was the Medical Officer At Ukkaram ( a small village in Tamil Nadu, India) then. ….Slowly many girls who were prescribed for Braces  started visiting him and his business picked up in a very short span…….Unlike current days it was   a single string for upper jaw over the tooth  attached with a flop which would stick to the upper palate . (Can be removed while brushing the teeth).My father strictly refused to put braces for me hoping that it would get set automatically when I grew up.

The good marketing techniques helped the Dentist  to raise to great heights which led him to start a school by himself headed by his Teacher wife….

Pioneer to Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Marks, Huh ???

Say CANDY !!  Say DALLAS  !!

P.S : Our daughter’s Maxillofacial Specialist, during one of our visits, told us  that he had been noticing the increase in the number of takers for Braces during the  past 30 years due to the change in the facial structure because of  Evolution factor.. The chin is getting closer by which the jaws are unable to accommodate all the 32 teeth …..(Before fixing the braces, the Dentist would remove minimum 4 teeth to set your face right….know this fact???)

Making of Beauty indeed !!!!!!