Because, I’m happy!

On a boring day, I was doing my homework and grumbling to myself about how unhappy I was and what a boring life I had. Unhappy that I had to study all the time, with no time to play or watch TV. Actually, I hadn’t been happy for a long time. I was under the pressure of my studies. Even as all these things were going on in my head, I continued doing my homework. As I was about to finish my homework, I thought, “What if I ask people how happy they are? Do other people also complain like me? Do they also complain about their misfortune and misery to others, or is it only me?” Just then the doorbell rang. I rushed to the door as I knew who it was. It was my mother. She was carrying a pile of books in her hands.

“What’s this, Mom? I mean, why are you carrying so many books?” I asked her. She replied, “I have borrowed them from the library. I need them for some research. Please help me place them on the table.” I helped my mother arrange the books. They were quite heavy, big and thick books. My mother thanked me. I took a look at the books, just to check if there was any book of my interest. I have always loved books. They are like my best friends. In times of misery, frustration or fury, books make me feel better.

Coming back to the present, I was looking through the books but nothing caught my attention, until the very last one. It wasn’t a very fat book. In fact, it was the thinnest of the lot. It was a leather-bound book. I could make out that it was very old. The cover had lost its colour, the pages were yellowish. I was wondering why my mother would need such an old book for her work. I took the book to my room. I tried to figure out the name of the book. It was written in golden letters but the lettering had faded out. At last I figured out the name; it was In Quest of Happiness. I was curious to know more, so I asked my mom about it. “No, I don’t need this book. I think the librarian gave it to me by mistake; don’t worry, I shall
return it to her,” she said.

I settled down on my chair, opened the book and started reading it. The story was about a man who would always grumble about his misfortune and misery. He would often say that he was the unhappiest person on earth. One day, on his way back home from work, he saw an old beggar whistling away by the street. The beggar was singing and whistling to his heart’s content. Seeing this, the man thought, “How happy the beggar is! Let me go and find out the secret of his happiness.” So, he goes to the beggar and asks him the secret of his happiness. The beggar laughs and replies that he wasn’t happy at all. He was hungry and had no food to eat. So he was whistling and singing to keep his hunger away. The man then asks the beggar who, according to him, is the happiest. The beggar points to another young man who is standing near a shiny car.

The man then walks up to that particular young man, and asks him the same question. The young man points towards another person. That whole day, this man goes from one place to another, but he doesn’t find one single person who says that he is the happiest person. At last, the man returns home, disheartened.

On his walk back home, an old man sees him and asks him why he is going around with a frown on his face. The man tells him about his failed quest to find the happiest person in the world. The old man gives a hearty laugh and says, “Dear son, how will you find the happiest person? Everybody has their woes and worries. Always remember this, there will always be problems to deal with, but you need to find ways for happiness amidst these woes and worries.” The old man said this and went his way.

That was the end of the beautiful story in the book. It made me realise that even I, like the man in the story, should stop complaining about my problems. Instead, find ways of happiness through them. The best route to happiness is to remain content with what we have. I kept the book in my bookshelf and went on doing my homework and other assignments. But this time, with a small difference – there was a wide smile on my face. That was a great lesson for me on happiness.