A Happy Man

I was in a foul mood (don’t say what’s new in that). In fact my whole project batch was. Our project guide had just bashed us for a ‘Pathetic job that you have managed to do throughout the year’. “The project is not even 40% complete” he said. And as usual we were cursing him.

“Does he himself know how to declare a variable in ASP.NET!!” - Nikhil.

“He cannot even guide us if we have any technical problems!!” – Shirish.

“He must be the worst project guide in the world, in fact, I should say in the whole universe!!” – Vishal.

“That stupid s*%#@%&*@ !!” – Me (who else!).

And so it went on throughout the day. Something or the other kept annoying me and the whole day was wretched. As I was about to go to sleep that night I thought our project guide was not happy with our work; we in turn were not happy with him. In fact all around the world everybody keeps cursing someone because they are not happy. Friends curse friends, teachers curse students who in turn curse them, employees curse their boss and vice versa, politicians curse people and vice versa. And I wondered whether there is a happy soul in this world who actually likes and loves what he/she is. Finding that person will really be a tough task. And so I thought this will be a good time-pass in the PL. So, I decided to go on a quest to find that happy soul and ask him/her the secret of happiness. With this resolve I went to sleep.

* * *

I looked at the clock and thought it must be showing wrong time. 1 O’clock, surely I have not slept for 15 hours. Then I tried to concentrate on the reason why I was waking up and I realized that someone was kicking me.

“Wake up you good for nothing pothead and study!!” – Tejas.

I woke up and got done with my morning routine. When I came to my room I found Tejas studying or rather trying to study. With him it was always like this. He has to have some time-pass along with his books. When he saw me getting ready to go out he asked – “Where are you going?”

I told him as I always do. We never hide anything between ourselves (or at least I think so). He did not laugh as I had expected. He just shook his head. “Why can’t you act normal for once? Only 10 days are remaining for exams. Why don’t you study instead of going on this shit mission of yours?”

“Relax partner, there are still 10 days!! 2 days for each subject and I will pass. Don’t worry.”

He again just shook his head. This time he really looked like my father after we have had a discussion on… ammm…any topic!! I always took it as a sign of encouragement. So, after all I was ready to go on my mission.

* * *

I came back in the evening fully depressed. No one in this world seemed happy. And as I always do when I am depressed I called my father. I told him everything. And then I asked - “Dad why is it that these people keep trying to find excuses to run away from happiness when happiness is all that you seek in life?”

Dad said – “Because people love excuses. Then it doesn’t matter whether they are to run away from responsibility or happiness.”

“But why can’t just they be happy?”

“As I already told you people want and have excuses for everything in life. It is how you look at them. Whether you look at them as excuses to run away from happiness or as challenges to remain happy. This decides whether you can be happy or not.”

“Then what is happiness?”

“Happiness is a state of mind. Always remember this – ‘you are only as happy as you think you are’. So being happy is up to you.”

“So how do I become happy?”

“Haven’t you understood? It is up to you! Ok. Tell me have you discussed this with your friends?”

“No.”

“Then do it and hopefully you will understand.”

So I went to Neeraj and Ashish’s room where we usually gather for time-pass. All were there. Parag, Omkar and obviously Neeraj and Ashish. I gave them all the background and they all burst out laughing. I said – “Let me know when you become serious so that I can tell you further.”

I am their senior so they instantly became serious. Although I could see that they were having a tough time suppressing their laughter. I started,

“So after telling Tejas I went out and wondered where to go and what I actually needed to do. Then I heard a sound which only a large gathering of people can make. I was curious. I went to find the source of that sound and found out that a crowd was gathered to see shooting of some film and that a famous actor was taking part in it. I pushed my way forward to see what was going on. A supposedly romantic scene was being shot,

“Actor – ‘Main tumhare liye kuchh bhi kar sakta hu Jaanam!!’”

“Should have asked him to pee in the pants” – Parag, laughing like a madman.

“Imagine him actually doing it! Girl’s reaction would have been ultimate! Watching with horror as a man peeing in his pants is proposing her!” – Ashish.

“And she would have had to accept!” – Omkar.

At this even I could not help laughing till my stomach hurt and my eyes were filled with tears. After a while the laughter subsided and I continued,

“I will leave rest of the scene out of it. Then I thought – ‘If anyone in this world is happy it must be an actor. Always getting to be different personalities and all that artistic satisfaction. I must seek him.’ Fortunately getting a word with an actor is easy. After the scene I went and pretended that I was his biggest fan and that I had watched every one of his movies. He seemed very pleased. Then I asked,

‘You must be very happy with what you are.’

‘To be honest I am not at all happy. I would give anything to become an engineer (if only he knew).’

‘But you get to do what you want with all those different types of roles.’

‘Not at all. If you look at my last 15 movies I have only played the lover boy role.’

‘But people love you for that.’

‘Yes, but I want to do different roles. And they do not like it. Further being famous also takes away my freedom and brings many scandals in my life.’

‘So you are not happy?’

‘No way. I am the least happy man that you can get.’

“I confess that I was disappointed. Despite having so many fans, huge wealth and fame the actor was not happy. So, I wondered who should I go to. And then I thought a doctor is the person I want to see. With all the respect and social prestige he has, he must be the happiest among all. So I turned towards Dr. xxxxxx’s clinic as I had a slight acquaintance with him.”

“Him? Last time when Sudarshan was ill we took the case to him. He said hurry him to the specialist otherwise he may go into a coma. And then the specialist said he has dehydration.” – Neeraj said and everybody smiled remembering the incident. “He also bores you with his PJ’s. Once when I went to him he asked – ‘Why is pepe jeans so expensive?’ I said I don’t know. He answered – ‘So simple. Because you have to pay twice. Pay-pay.’ ” Another round of laughter. When it subsided I continued,

“So as I was saying I went to see him. After the preliminaries and assuring him that I was not ill and hence needed no injections I came to the point.

‘Sir, are you happy with what you are?’

‘Do you want an honest answer?’

‘Yes sir.’

‘Then no. I am not at all happy with who I am. No peace of mind. I am constantly on duty as I never know when an emergency may come up.’

‘But you earn so much of money.’

‘Yes, but where is the time to spend it! Someone is getting ill all the time.’

‘But you also have so much of respect and social prestige.’

‘You should see what I have to hear when my diagnosis goes wrong. People don’t remember to pay respect then.’

‘So you are not happy?’

‘Not at all. By the way do you know what you call a thing that kills man?’

I did not know, but I risked a guess – ‘A doctor?’

‘No. you call it Man-Mar (Myanmar).’ But I could see he was not pleased with my answer.

“So I got out of his clinic and thought that even a doctor with a God like social status is not happy so who else should I go to. And I wandered off in my thoughts. I don’t know how much I walked but I came to a halt in front of a police station. And suddenly I thought this is one satisfying job. Cleaning the criminals from the society. So I went in seeking a word with the police inspector (you are not supposed to ask how such important people had time for me. This is a liberty that the author can take.). He seemed a bit relieved because he had just caught a notorious criminal. I thought he must be happy.

‘Sir, are you happy with what you are?’

‘Are you a press reporter? If you are, then I am very happy.’

‘No, no, sir, you are misunderstanding.’ And I gave him all the background.

‘Oh… I don’t think you will find any. At least I am not happy. Daily tensions whether I will go home or not. Plus all the low salaries and stuff that goes with government job.’

‘But what about the satisfaction of removing criminals from society?’

‘With precisely this thought I had joined police 10 years ago. But after all these years I have come to know that all a man wants is a peaceful meal with his wife with no fear of a bullet coming from somewhere and killing him.’

“I was again disappointed but understood. I felt sad about how people with such high goals are disappointed and changed by the system into disillusioned individuals. Now where do I go? I suddenly remembered I had not eaten anything since morning. So, I went to a nearby restaurant and settled for a dinner. In the corner I saw a man, presumably a middle class man, sitting with his wife and two children enjoying his dinner and having a great time. And I remembered that often simple people are the happiest people in the world. So I decided to talk to this man. But how, was the question. Suddenly the man rose and asked waiter for the toilet. This is my chance I thought. I went in after him. When he was through I said,

‘Good evening sir. My name is Prasad.’

‘Good evening. Do I know you?’ he was confused.

“I told him my story in short and asked him the same question,

‘Are you happy with what you are?’

“Like a man who was being relieved of a huge burden he started speaking,

‘I am a very worried man because I always have problem to make ends meet. I have a lovely wife and two children and money never seems enough. I have to pay installments for loans on car and house. I wonder when I will be a free man again.’

‘But you have a family that loves you very much and will stand by you through thick and thin.’
‘But you cannot survive on love alone. You need money for that.’

“I was getting irritated with his overemphasis on money. And I knew there was no point in pursuing this discussion further. So, I thanked him and went on my way without noticing that I still had not eaten anything. I was thoroughly frustrated, irritated and disillusioned. I wondered whether there is a happy person in this world.

“And this guys, is the whole story.”

After several seconds of silence Parag said – “don’t take tension yaar. I know how to make you happy. Let’s go out.”

We all went out and had a lot of fun. More than we usually do. I was already feeling better. We came back after a while. As I was going to my room Nikhil Kulkarni came to me and said – “Chaps I just read this on the potter site. A new clue about the 7th horcrux. You won’t believe what they have to say.” And we discussed it for about an hour. Then as per my habit of these days I was about to call my sister. But suddenly my mobile rang and it was her. A smile spread on my lips. Tonight the sound of her voice was even sweeter.

After I was done talking with her I just changed and lay on the bed thinking.
I thought, I have friends who know how to change my mood and make it cheerful. I thought, I have friends who know exactly what I like and wait to discuss it with me. I thought, I have a great sister who always listens to me when I want to speak and never complains. I thought, I have a family who love me so much and are always there to guide me. And I remembered, “You are only as happy as you think you are”.

And I thought, I am the happiest person on this earth.