Date: 09/09/2026
All rights reserved by the author

There are two kinds of people in the world.
Those who read instructions.
And those who believe instructions are written for other people.
I belong firmly to the second group.
Recently, something arrived at home that required “simple assembly.”
Those two words should have warned me.
I opened the box.
There were screws.
There were wooden pieces.
There were several things that looked important but had no obvious purpose.
The instruction booklet was placed carefully to one side.
I began confidently.
Twenty minutes later, I had built something.
Unfortunately, it was not exactly what the picture showed.
I looked at the instructions.
Then at my creation.
Then back at the instructions.
Apparently, Step One was important.
Eventually, everything was dismantled and rebuilt properly.
The entire operation took twice as long as it should have.
But I learned a valuable lesson.
The instructions are not insulting your intelligence.
They are simply trying to save your afternoon.
Of course, next time I buy something that says “easy assembly,” I will probably do exactly the same thing again.
Some people learn from experience.
Others prefer to collect more experience first.

Rajat Chandra Sarmah
Guwahati, Assam, India
Email: rajatchandrasarmah@gmail.com
YouTube: Converse With A Smile

Date: 09/09/2026
All rights reserved by the author

Imagine waking up one day each month knowing that your neighbourhood will become a place of shared work.
People come out.
Neighbours meet.
And instead of waiting for someone else to solve every local problem, the community does something together.
In Rwanda, this tradition is known as Umuganda.
The word is closely associated with community work and collective action. Rwanda’s government describes it as one of the country’s home-grown initiatives, rooted in cultural traditions of people coming together for a common purpose. �
Government of Rwanda +1
The work itself can take many forms—helping improve local surroundings, maintaining community spaces or contributing to projects that benefit others.
But what makes the idea interesting is what happens beyond the physical work.
People meet.
They see one another.
They talk about matters affecting their community.
In modern life, it is easy to live beside people without really knowing them.
We pass the same houses.
Shop in the same places.
Perhaps even greet one another every day.
Yet everyone remains busy inside their own world.
Umuganda offers a different thought.
A community is not merely a collection of houses standing close together.
It becomes a community when people occasionally decide that some things are better done together.
That is a simple idea.
And perhaps that is precisely why it is powerful.

Rajat Chandra Sarmah
Guwahati, Assam, India
Email: rajatchandrasarmah@gmail.com
YouTube: Converse With A Smile

#Rwanda #HumanStories #Community #AroundTheWorld

Date: 10/09/2026
All rights reserved by the author

There are people with whom silence never feels uncomfortable.
You can sit beside them without searching for something clever to say.
The conversation may stop.
The room may become quiet.
And yet, nothing feels missing.
I think that is one of the nicest things about growing close to someone.
In the beginning, we often try hard to fill every silence. We tell stories. Ask questions. Look for the right words.
But with certain people, eventually, we stop performing.
We simply become ourselves.
Perhaps that is why some friendships survive long gaps.
You may not meet for months.
Then you sit together again, and after a few minutes, the distance seems to disappear.
No explanations are required.
No formal beginning.
Just two people returning to a familiar space.
Life gives us many acquaintances.
But only a few people give us that rare comfort—the feeling that we do not have to be interesting every minute.
Sometimes it is enough simply to have someone sitting beside us.
And somehow, that makes the world feel less crowded and less lonely at the same time.

Rajat Chandra Sarmah
Guwahati, Assam, India
Email: rajatchandrasarmah@gmail.com
YouTube: Converse With A Smile

Date: 08/09/2026
All rights reserved by the author

A man spent twenty minutes looking for his glasses.
He searched the table.
The bedroom.
The kitchen.
He even accused the family dog of being involved.
“Did anyone move my glasses?”
Nobody had.
The search became serious.
Cushions were lifted.
Drawers were opened.
Someone suggested checking the refrigerator.
Nobody knew why.
Finally, his wife walked into the room and looked at him.
Then she started laughing.
“What?” he asked.
“They’re on your head.”
There was silence.
He slowly raised his hand.
There they were.
For a moment, he looked genuinely offended.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
His wife replied,
“Because you were giving such detailed instructions about where to search.”
That ended the investigation.
The glasses were found.
The dog was cleared of all charges.
And the family gained another story to repeat at every future gathering.
The strange thing about getting older is not forgetting things.
It is discovering that sometimes you never lost them at all.
They were simply waiting—
right above your eyes.

Rajat Chandra Sarmah
Guwahati, Assam, India
Email: rajatchandrasarmah@gmail.com
YouTube: Converse With A Smile

Date: 08/09/2026
All rights reserved by the author

On Pentecost Island in Vanuatu, there is a tradition that has fascinated people around the world for generations.
Men climb tall wooden towers built from branches and vines.
Then, with vines attached to their ankles, they jump.
The tradition is known as Naghol, or land diving.
To an outsider, it may first look like an astonishing display of bravery. But traditions are rarely understood simply by looking at them from a distance.
For the people connected with this practice, it belongs to a much deeper cultural world of community, ritual and tradition.
What strikes me most is how differently courage can be understood in different parts of the world.
For one person, courage may mean climbing a tower.
For another, it may mean leaving home.
For someone else, courage may simply mean beginning again after life has gone badly.
Perhaps that is why stories from distant countries matter.
They remind us that human beings may live differently, speak different languages and follow different customs—
but courage itself is familiar everywhere.
It simply wears different clothes.
And sometimes, it stands at the edge of a wooden platform, takes a breath, and jumps.

Rajat Chandra Sarmah
Guwahati, Assam, India
Email: rajatchandrasarmah@gmail.com
YouTube: Converse With A Smile

#Vanuatu #HumanStories #Culture #AroundTheWorld

Date: 08/09/2026
All rights reserved by the author

We all carry small things that nobody else can see.
A sentence someone once said to us.
A disappointment we have never discussed.
A kindness we still remember.
A mistake we wish we could undo.
Perhaps that is why we should be a little careful with one another.
The person standing in front of us may look perfectly fine. They may smile, work, joke and answer every question with, “I’m good.”
And perhaps they are.
But perhaps they are carrying something heavy.
We don’t always need to know what it is.
Sometimes kindness does not require an explanation.
A little patience.
A gentle answer.
A willingness not to make someone’s difficult day even more difficult.
That is all.
We cannot remove every burden another person carries.
But we can try not to add another one.
And perhaps, without ever knowing it, a small kindness from us may become one of the lighter things they carry home.

Rajat Chandra Sarmah
Guwahati, Assam, India
Email: rajatchandrasarmah@gmail.com
YouTube: Converse With A Smile

Date: 07/09/2026
All rights reserved by the author

Every house has one drawer that nobody wants to explain.
You open it looking for a pen.
Instead, you find three old keys.
Nobody knows what they open.
There is a charger for a phone that disappeared years ago.
Two batteries—probably dead.
A button.
Some rubber bands.
And at least one mysterious object that the entire family agrees must be important because nobody is brave enough to throw it away.
I once asked,
“Why do we keep all this?”
The answer was immediate.
“We might need it someday.”
That is the official philosophy of the drawer.
And strangely, once in a while, it works.
Someone needs an odd-sized battery.
There it is.
A small screw disappears from somewhere.
The drawer produces one.
An old key suddenly becomes useful.
Nobody celebrates.
Nobody apologises.
The drawer simply proves that it knew what it was doing all along.
Perhaps every family needs one place where logic is temporarily suspended.
A small museum of things we don’t understand
but absolutely refuse to throw away.

Rajat Chandra Sarmah
Guwahati, Assam, India
Email: rajatchandrasarmah@gmail.com
YouTube: Converse With A Smile

Date: 07/09/2026
All rights reserved by the author

In Paraguay, a drink can be much more than something taken to satisfy thirst.
It can be an invitation to slow down.
To sit together.
To talk.
The drink is called tereré, a traditional cold infusion associated with yerba mate and, in the culture of Pohã Ñana, with the use of herbs.
But what makes tereré particularly interesting is the social world around it.
It is shared among family members, friends and visitors. The time spent preparing and drinking it creates space for conversation, friendship and inclusion.
UNESCO recognised the traditional practices and knowledge surrounding tereré in Paraguay as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2020. �
UNESCO ICH +1
I like the simplicity of that idea.
In our busy lives, we often arrange meetings for a purpose.
A business discussion.
A decision.
An appointment.
But sometimes people simply need a reason to sit together.
Perhaps that is what traditions like tereré quietly preserve.
Not merely a drink.
A pause.
A conversation.
And the comforting reminder that good company does not always need an important reason.
Sometimes, it only needs someone saying,
“Sit down. Stay awhile.”

Rajat Chandra Sarmah
Guwahati, Assam, India
Email: rajatchandrasarmah@gmail.com
YouTube: Converse With A Smile

#Paraguay #HumanStories #Culture #AroundTheWorld

Date: 07/09/2026
All rights reserved by the author

It is strange what the mind chooses to keep.
We may forget an important date and remember, perfectly, the smell of an old classroom.
We may struggle to recall a conversation from last week but suddenly remember the sound of someone laughing twenty years ago.
Sometimes a song does it.
Sometimes a particular road.
Sometimes the smell of rain.
And without warning, we are somewhere else for a few seconds.
I don’t think memories always arrive because we deliberately invite them.
Perhaps they simply know the way.
A childhood friend.
A person who is no longer with us.
A house that has changed.
A voice we have not heard for years.
For a brief moment, they return—not exactly as they were, but as we have carried them inside us.
Perhaps that is one of life’s quiet miracles.
Nothing is completely gone while a small part of it can still make us stop, smile and say,
“Yes… I remember.”

Rajat Chandra Sarmah
Guwahati, Assam, India
Email: rajatchandrasarmah@gmail.com
YouTube: Converse With A Smile

Date: 06/09/2026
All Rights Reserved by the Author

There is always one person in a family who knows exactly how shopping should be done.
Unfortunately, that person is rarely the one doing the shopping.
“Don’t buy that brand.”
“Why?”
“It isn’t good.”
“How do you know?”
“I saw a review.”
Then comes another instruction.
“Compare the prices.”
I compare them.
“Not like that.”
Apparently, there is a correct scientific method for buying tomatoes too.
By the time I reached the billing counter, I had received three more messages.
One said, “Don’t forget the eggs.”
The next said, “We already have eggs.”
And the final message said,
“Buy them anyway.”
I came home feeling like a man who had completed an important national assignment.
The bags were inspected.
Everything was checked.
Then came the question:
“Did you buy coriander?”
I had not.
There was silence.
I decided not to explain that I had successfully purchased seventeen other things.
Some achievements, apparently, are invisible.
Especially when you forget the coriander.

Rajat Chandra Sarmah
Guwahati, Assam, India
Email: rajatchandrasarmah@gmail.com