Exactly after 392 days , I decided to write another one again....
Out of touch for a year and a month almost and you can say it took me almost the better part of the day to assemble my thoughts ..
Before I get down to the business of toying with " happiness" , its important to set the ball rolling ... Let me clarify - this happiness is not due to return of yours truly as a blogger ( last one year was quite hectic and didnt want to write as well ) although I was contemplating to write for some time , neither is this happiness an explanation of an aftermath of an event ... Its just an attempt to structure what happiness is..
Definition of happiness is very chaotic.. The most plausable one is contentment with emotions varying from joy restricted /muted to that of intense joy..... Some define it is a development of human mankind's flourishing. Overall it is quite a confusing subject to dwell upon..
For me happiness is a state of mind as simple as that ... Now that is as subjective as it can be ... For long I have thought enough about it , as a 40 + would think with his fair share of ups and downs in life .... Its highly relative for me and I think for most of us if I were to draw a logical conclusion..
Lets take examples - For a man who struggles to meet his ends ( a daily labour who works on wages ) for him an increased wage or a succesful negotiation with his boss on wage is happiness , for a govt employee whose salary is not enough to meet his errands for him an increase in DA or any allowance by Govt is like a God's Gift/his happiness ... For a senior level executive his increase of savings or bonus whereby he can get his daughter married in a better way is happiness ... This is for the struggling mass whose main source of income is salary and not any other source .. On the other side of the valley think of a millionaire tycoon whose only happiness is measured by no of succesful business deals and acquisition. For him the extra moolah is his moment of glory ...
Now if you are thinking that am a money minded blogger who measures success only with wealth then hang on. There is another side to this story..
I know a couple of actors /musicians in kolkata personally who stay awake till 4 AM in the morning rehearsing their roles to perfection the umpteenth time so that the next day their shows go 100% or more than desired . For them thats HAPPINESS - the zone to be in where they achieve sublime perfection of their soul . Thats intellectual happiness which is intangible. Have been witness to a very well known musician friend who sleeps only 2 hours a day - practises well past midnight for his shows . This aint bring him any laurels for the shows are local gigs in places which strictly wont earn him $$ but thats his NIRVANA - his happiness for his perfection.
So what exactly is happiness - to some its the increase in material wealth and to some it is the increase of enriching one's soul ... To each his own may be ..
Apart from a beggar who has nothing & a tycoon who wants everything - probably all of us are guided by the word WANT ... GREED and DESIRE plays an important role in happiness these days for most of us ...
As I said in the beginning, its a state of mind .. a rich man can be unhappy , a poor man can be happy .. A politician with all his power may be rueful and grumpy while a lower division clerk with his very meagre income and no sign of influence going back home in a crowded bus is far more content with his life ...
For me standing in the cross roads of middle age where happiness means a lot to me , I seek HAPPINESS in small things ... when I was growing up happiness was Sunil Gavaskar batting like hell to protect India from getting bowled out twice... Since I grew up in a hill town outside Kolkata , coming to Kolkata in vacations was happiness - the big roads and the traffic in the 80's the many men in New Market everything was joy for me at that time .... As I grew up and came to Kolkata defn . of happiness changed over a period of time and with the world changing and becoming more complex, my happiness like many others also changed with time ...
My happiness in writing this blog also brings some happiness to me as I have been able to relive and recollect some happiness of my past life in the last hour or so .. My parting philosophy about happiness is while there is no harm in want ( although caution should be exercised between want & greed ) one must be thankful for what they have and treasure them immensely . Money cant buy happiness or does it ?
Out of touch for a year and a month almost and you can say it took me almost the better part of the day to assemble my thoughts ..
Before I get down to the business of toying with " happiness" , its important to set the ball rolling ... Let me clarify - this happiness is not due to return of yours truly as a blogger ( last one year was quite hectic and didnt want to write as well ) although I was contemplating to write for some time , neither is this happiness an explanation of an aftermath of an event ... Its just an attempt to structure what happiness is..
Definition of happiness is very chaotic.. The most plausable one is contentment with emotions varying from joy restricted /muted to that of intense joy..... Some define it is a development of human mankind's flourishing. Overall it is quite a confusing subject to dwell upon..
For me happiness is a state of mind as simple as that ... Now that is as subjective as it can be ... For long I have thought enough about it , as a 40 + would think with his fair share of ups and downs in life .... Its highly relative for me and I think for most of us if I were to draw a logical conclusion..
Lets take examples - For a man who struggles to meet his ends ( a daily labour who works on wages ) for him an increased wage or a succesful negotiation with his boss on wage is happiness , for a govt employee whose salary is not enough to meet his errands for him an increase in DA or any allowance by Govt is like a God's Gift/his happiness ... For a senior level executive his increase of savings or bonus whereby he can get his daughter married in a better way is happiness ... This is for the struggling mass whose main source of income is salary and not any other source .. On the other side of the valley think of a millionaire tycoon whose only happiness is measured by no of succesful business deals and acquisition. For him the extra moolah is his moment of glory ...
Now if you are thinking that am a money minded blogger who measures success only with wealth then hang on. There is another side to this story..
I know a couple of actors /musicians in kolkata personally who stay awake till 4 AM in the morning rehearsing their roles to perfection the umpteenth time so that the next day their shows go 100% or more than desired . For them thats HAPPINESS - the zone to be in where they achieve sublime perfection of their soul . Thats intellectual happiness which is intangible. Have been witness to a very well known musician friend who sleeps only 2 hours a day - practises well past midnight for his shows . This aint bring him any laurels for the shows are local gigs in places which strictly wont earn him $$ but thats his NIRVANA - his happiness for his perfection.
So what exactly is happiness - to some its the increase in material wealth and to some it is the increase of enriching one's soul ... To each his own may be ..
Apart from a beggar who has nothing & a tycoon who wants everything - probably all of us are guided by the word WANT ... GREED and DESIRE plays an important role in happiness these days for most of us ...
As I said in the beginning, its a state of mind .. a rich man can be unhappy , a poor man can be happy .. A politician with all his power may be rueful and grumpy while a lower division clerk with his very meagre income and no sign of influence going back home in a crowded bus is far more content with his life ...
For me standing in the cross roads of middle age where happiness means a lot to me , I seek HAPPINESS in small things ... when I was growing up happiness was Sunil Gavaskar batting like hell to protect India from getting bowled out twice... Since I grew up in a hill town outside Kolkata , coming to Kolkata in vacations was happiness - the big roads and the traffic in the 80's the many men in New Market everything was joy for me at that time .... As I grew up and came to Kolkata defn . of happiness changed over a period of time and with the world changing and becoming more complex, my happiness like many others also changed with time ...
My happiness in writing this blog also brings some happiness to me as I have been able to relive and recollect some happiness of my past life in the last hour or so .. My parting philosophy about happiness is while there is no harm in want ( although caution should be exercised between want & greed ) one must be thankful for what they have and treasure them immensely . Money cant buy happiness or does it ?
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