Synthesizing happiness

D.C. Pathak

(The writer is a former Director Intelligence Bureau)

Online teaching and webinars being the new normal, there was the other day a discussion on Happiness – the programme was organized by a credible forum for senior citizens. Interestingly, the audience mostly comprised those who had all spent a lifetime in the service of the government in responsible positions and had, therefore, the advantage of having seen a relatively good life in material terms. Their keen participation in an analysis of what happiness was, provided in its own way an affirmation of the reality that happiness was an individual's own perception of the outcome of multiple factors existing around him or her.

There were a couple of presentations on what international research had produced on the subject – important points made were that childhood factors do not predict what life would be in the Seventies, that midlife decides what life satisfaction one would have in those senior years and that only one out of a dozen individuals gave the impression of having not 'retired' at that stage. In a deeper, somewhat clinical, examination it was mentioned that the combination of 'distractibility', 'attention deficit' and 'a certain level of loneliness' affected happiness in the advanced age. Also, 'negative self talk' often connected with a 'pervasive loss of purpose and meaning in life', came in the way. At the end of it all, what perhaps was being confirmed is that Happiness is a matter of perception of the mind and to that extent it would be in part conditioned not only by one's own life experience but also by the ability to control one's thinking process where one's cultural and spiritual assets would come in handy. There was little said about the latter in the research findings, however.

The subject of 'Happiness' is a matter that every thinking person should examine in his or her own right in the spirit of usefully spending some of the spare time, if nothing else. My firm belief is that the roots of 'Happiness' lie in the mental equilibrium that had to be first achieved through a combination of 'awareness' and 'acceptance' – particularly in the years that marked the closing quarter of life. An understanding of life in its larger perspective is what this helps to bring to the individual. It is remarkable how Indian thought, that combined spirituality with a scientific outlook, envisaged a childhood that presaged long years of the process of gaining 'complete' education which would then be followed by a lifelong endeavour to raise material wealth as well as a family before one moved towards sunset on a note of satisfaction over what lay behind – some good and some not so good – and could view everything in the 'larger picture' of life that embraced every human being.

Some of the famous scientists of the West in their own ways provided the recipe for 'awareness and acceptance'. Madame Curie, the greatest woman scientist of all time – she won the Nobel twice – famously said 'nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood' which is echoed in J. Krishnamoorthy's dictum: 'understanding is the end of the problem'. Albert Einstein's well-known quote, "Imagination is more important than knowledge' somewhere acknowledges the ability of the human mind to at least attempt to understand what was unknown. A fundamental 'awareness' of finiteness of life, unintended lapses of the past and futility of comparisons is what makes way for the 'acceptance' by a person of whatever hand that was dealt to him or her and the way it was played by the individual. All of this works for the stability of thought that provides a substratum to 'happiness' which was otherwise a fleeting phenomenon.

Happiness being a perception of mind, it is obvious that only a healthy and pain-free body could enjoy it since what was happening to the latter could not be wished away. The pain of a grievous loss sometimes is not healed by time and may not be sublimated even by turning to any kind of spiritual pursuit – good deeds done in the memory of the one lost might mitigate it to an extent. Overcoming grief is essential for moving forward. Generally speaking, 'Health is wealth' is a reminder for those in the tapering years of life that it might be a good idea to consider any meaningful effort to keep the body in shape – as a part of the run-up to the thoughts of 'Happiness'. Of course, it is also true that an unhappy mind makes the body vulnerable to illnesses. That people are fully realizing all of this is good news – it is, at least, a partial answer to the 'pervasive loss of purpose' referred to, earlier.

The 'purpose and meaning' of life is succinctly described by Gita's rich philosophy of 'karma' or 'action' that Indians are endowed with. Work is life and at any stage of one's existence this call holds good. Even those who did not have to work for livelihood should find some useful ways of utilizing time for doing something for others beyond their own self. People tend to seek more of what they had done during their career with the government or otherwise – this gets linked to a certain craving for recognition – and start sulking and whiling away 'time' which, they forget, was always a precious resource not to be wasted. Also, people who had seen life would understand that while one may not be a problem solver, he or she should avoid becoming a problem for others. This is a recipe for happiness senior citizens would do well to remember.

Some aspects of 'Happiness' or the lack of it are quite evident but nobody draws lessons from them. Somebody once wrote on how 'we are unhappy with the happiness of others' – a variant of this suggesting that one could feel happy over a rival's fall is also not entirely uncommon, which underscores the negativity of human mind that one could consciously stay away from. Everybody's life is a story and no two stories are the same – that lends a uniqueness to human beings. This could provide a degree of self-confidence, enough to counter envy that was a sure destroyer of happiness. Finally, it is in the human nature to seek interaction with others voluntarily as that works for self-assurance and acts as a promoter of happiness — that is why perhaps 'solitary confinement' is considered an extreme punishment.

In a social gathering, someone jocularly said, "We will meet if we live" and another responded by saying, "We will live if we meet". Loneliness is often self-imposed – a result of disgruntlement or even vanity – and should be minimised by reaching out to known friends and new faces, for any justifiable reason. If happiness can be 'analysed', it can be reconstituted too, in a manner of speaking, though there are always inexplainable personal factors setting its paradigms for individuals. However, it can be said that while there are only 'moments' of Happiness – Happiness is an emotion and any emotion has a fleeting character – the important thing is to achieve a happy 'state of mind'.

Coming back to seniors, what certainly can help their thought process is the reality that there was no substitute of experience – this should be enough not to let notions of 'generation gap' cloud the vision of even the octogenarians. Considering that India is a 'young' country – two-third of its population is below 35 years of age – senior citizens here are an extremely valuable segment for they have 'seen history' and can better interpret the nation's rich cultural legacy to the younger population. It is a matter of great satisfaction that the present regime attached a lot of importance to them and showed a nurtural approach in dealing with them.

The country is passing through testing times in handling challenges of both development and defence amidst an unprecedented pandemic. Indians of advance age, who are functional, are a class apart and they have the wisdom to rise above caste, creed or region to render useful contribution to the progress of the nation as influencers by speaking up against destructive agitational politics and violence in public life and for democratic governance that regarded India as one nation and gave special attention to the poor and the weak. (IANS)