The whole city is covered in a strange blanket of darkness. The night sky is pitch black, not a single star in the distant sky. The surrounding scenery is obscured by the layer of fog that has accumulated on the ground. But in that darkness, in the center of the city stands a huge circus tent. And in that circus tent, there is the presence of a strange clown.
His name was 'Ranginu'. Not old, but life has taught him many things. He is the most famous face of the circus, because even when he has a smile on his face, there is always a strange emptiness in his eyes. No one could understand that emptiness, only the colorful one. He was a great mystery.
The circus audience was mesmerized by his performances. One moment he would make himself taller and the next moment shorter. As if he is not a person, but a rubber doll. The sound of his laughter filled people's hearts with joy, and children burst into laughter. But behind that smile was a sad story.
Ranangu's life was as strange as a circus. His parents died in an accident when he was young, and he became lonely. One day, he comes to this circus in the city and takes a job. Mr. Farooq, the owner of the circus, asks him to choose the life of a clown. Ranganu didn't know yet that this life would plunge him into a deeper emptiness.
At first everything was fine. Ranganu got on the stage and started making the audience laugh. People used to laugh at his funny faces, and he thought - that is the real meaning of life, to make people laugh. But as the days went by, he realized that behind this smile there was a huge emptiness. His own life is like a strange magic.
When Ranganu went off the stage, no one would recognize him. He would have become a common man in a crowd of people. He thought that people only see that smile behind his mask. No one wants to see his true self. He himself did not know where his real identity was.
One day, Ranganu was sitting outside the circus thinking to himself. He was looking up at the sky, as if searching for something. Suddenly, a little girl sat beside him. The girl is five or six years old, wearing torn clothes. There is no smile on his face, a kind of depression in his eyes.
The girl said slowly, "You're a circus clown, aren't you?"
"Yes, I'm the Joker. Do you know me?"
The girl shook her head and said, "You make people laugh, but why don't you smile?"
The color stopped. No one had asked him this question before. He didn't think to himself, that big smile on his face wasn't real. He couldn't say anything.
The girl said again, "Do you know the difference between laughter and sadness? Laughter is when the mind is happy. Sadness is when the mind is empty."
Ranganu was surprised to hear the girl's words. How can such a small girl say so deep?
"You may be a joker, but if your smile isn't genuine, people can tell," she told him.
After hearing the girl's words, Ranganu felt that her life was actually a lie. He makes people laugh every day, but he has no happiness inside himself.
The girl got up and started walking away. As he left he said, "One day your original smile will come back. Only then will you find true happiness."
Ranganu couldn't sleep all night thinking about the girl. When the circus was over, he went back to his little room and stood in front of the mirror. He had the Joker's paint on his face, that ever-familiar smile was just right. But there was only darkness in the depths of his eyes.
The next night Ranmanu took the stage, just like before. The audience is laughing, but he himself is empty inside. He saw that once the little girl was sitting in the first row again. This time he didn't say anything, just stared. There was a strange message in those magical eyes.
The color suddenly stopped. Everyone on the stage was surprised. He wiped the color off his face. The smile on his face also disappeared slowly. Then he said softly, "Today I will not make you laugh. Today I will show the truth inside me."
The audience fell silent. No one had ever seen such a sight before. Ranganu stood in front of everyone and wiped the tears from his eyes. He felt that these tears were his real truth. The sadness that was hidden behind his smile is now revealed in front of everyone.
Ranganu was released for the first time in his life. The gap between her laughter and tears disappeared today. He didn't care how the audience saw him.
From that day on, even if he appeared on the stage as a colorful joker, he would no longer show a fake smile. His smile became real now, because he realized that laughter not only brings happiness to the human mind, but tears also sometimes lead to liberation.
From that day, Ranganu started standing in front of people not only as a joker, but as a human being.