THE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS

On January 10, the President of India addressed the students and faculty of all IITs, NITs, Central Universities and a few other elite institutions of higher learning on the theme ‘Building a Humane and Happy Society’. The address in the video conferencing mode raised some very relevant concerns as far as our country is concerned and may well be crucial for the Republic that will turn 67 this January. The crux of the address was on creating a happy society and he had some very cogent reasons for the subject he chose to speak on.

In these over six and a half decades, our population rose from 360 million to 1.25 billion, our annual per capita income rose from Rs7,500 to Rs77,000, our GDP rose from two per cent to more than six per cent. Further, our food gain production rose to 222 million tonnes from a measly 45 million tonnes, and we are today among the world’s fastest growing economies. So far so good. Yet, in the World Happiness Report 2015, India figured at the rank 117 among 158 nations.

This, then, indicates that something is amiss somewhere. More so, because we have been a civilisation that has a tradition of festivals and celebrations. Our philosophy has been based on the premise‘Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah’ or peace and happiness to all.

The President’s concerns were genuine and if he directed his address to the elite centres of higher learning, he must have had a reason. Apparently that reason could be to make the elite institutions take up the challenge of creating a humane and happy society. It is against this backdrop that there is need to ponder over the entire gamut of issues. Ever since the then king of Bhutan raised the idea of happiness as a better measure of well-being than the cold statistical data related to Gross Domestic Product and Per Capita Income, the concept of measuring happiness has caught up with the world fraternity.

For the past few years, the World Happiness Report is now being published annually and evaluates nations on a happiness scale that is based on a survey of the state of global happiness. It is used to assess the progress of nations on the basis of measurement of well-being. The happiness report reflects a new worldwide demand for greater attention to happiness as a criteria for Government policy. Happiness and subjective well-being are, in fact, better indicators of the quality of human development.

With every passing year, the refinements about the concept of happiness and well-being give new insights into how to make the world a better place to live in. It is now being realised that happiness provides a better indicator of human welfare than do income, poverty, education, health, and good Government. People are happier living in societies where there is less inequality of happiness.

Incidentally, over the years, happiness inequality has increased significantly and this is a disturbing trend. The question that should be asked is why is this so? Despite other indicators of prosperity showing a rising trend, why the outcome is not happy. Perhaps the President wants the elite institutions to find an answer to this. What is the path to happiness and what role can the institutions play in this? There is a need for all of us to think about this.