WHAT IS HAPPINESS

Happiness can be briefly defined as a subjective state of well being of mind. However, this cannot be seen as a standard explanation as it  varies from person to person. For instance, generally in the middle class category of people, at least among Indians wide variety of things make them happy. Some people instantly become happy when they take a few pegs of alcohol. Some get happy when they get some unexpected money. Good friends make some happy. Wonderful results for their doings make almost all happy. Happiness is mostly related to contentment of their doings make almost all categories of people happy irrespective of the fact whether they are rich or poor. Despite all these explanation, happiness is interlinked with three states of mind, that is, contentment, happiness and peace. One factor cannot be separated from the other.

Sometimes some people fail to identify each one of this that they are going through. Many people think that large stock of money and other forms of wealth can make one happy. This is an illusion. Let us measure the happiness of people from '0 to 10'. I don't think that there is anyone in the world whose happiness mark is zero always. And also there may not be anyone with ten always. It must be always within the range of '1 to 9'. It may not be at a static point always. It keeps varying from time to time according to internal and external pressure. A beggar in the street may sometimes have a happiness level of 9 which is expected to be the level of the rich one. Similarly the rich one reaches the level of 1 many a times. If that is so, the rich and the poor remain at the same level of happiness many times, may be quite frequently. In fact happiness is a multifarious state of well being varying in each individual. Let us find a rich one after the good evening meals goes to the very comfortable bed in an a.c.  room. The person with a good number of financial and legal issues taunting the mind may be sweating there without sleep. On the other side, a poor man after working in the field for the whole day after taking the very ordinary meal sleep in the open verandah even without a fan. While the rich one with all modern amenities fail to have a sleep, the poor under many inconveniences gets a sound sleep.

We may find here an example to bifurcate contentment, happiness and peace in common people. Here we find a small farmer living with his wife and two children from the small earrings he makes from his cultivation.  During the season he frequently eat tapioca. While gathering a good return of the harvest that young man gets contentment of his efforts. When He shares it with his family and they enjoy it he gets happiness. And when He shares it with a poor family in the neighborhood he gets peace.

K V George