‘Happiness is a serious problem’

Mahatma Gandhi famously said, “The world has enough for everyone’s needs, but not everyone’s greed.”

As one looks around, one sees a large number of people, particularly the youth, focused on what there is not in their lives, or those of others. They suffer from a feeling that something is missing, whether it is an iPhone, a better house or the more expensive clothes, which someone else has. As a result, they are unable to enjoy what they have and remain unhappy.

There is, as a matter of fact, a name for such a weakness, called the ‘missing tile syndrome.’ Coined by Dennis Prager, in his book ‘Happiness is a Serious Problem,’ it signifies a tendency to dwell on what is missing, rather than what there is and, as a consequence, being sad and dissatisfied. The expression arises from imagining that one is in a museum and looking up at a beautiful ceiling made up with thousands of tiles. One of the tiles is missing, and it is that gap that arrests one’s attention, to the exclusion of the beauty of the remaining ceiling.

It is this imagined feeling, of deprivation, despite possessing all that one could wish for, that often leads to the desire to possess more, and more, a form of greed. That, in turn, leads to a situation where nothing matters, except the money one needs to acquire material things. One is reminded of the character, Joey Murphy, a banker in John Steinbeck’s ‘The Winter of Our Discontent,’ who extols the virtues of money, saying, “your only entrance is money” and “we all bow to the Great God Currency.” The book’s title owes its origin to the first two lines of William Shakespeare’s Richard III, “now is the winter of our discontent/Made glorious summer by this son of York,” signifying the end of the Wars of the Roses, the rise of the Tudor dynasty and the emergence of England as a colonial power.

Imperialism, and colonialism, as state policy aimed at gaining economic and political control over other nations, sometimes even extending to territorial acquisition, were known even in ancient times, when rulers in China, Western Asia and the Mediterranean region extended their power to other countries. Characterised by unbridled greed for power, and wealth, the phenomenon later spread to other countries. In the period between the 15th and the 18th centuries, countries began to eye potential grounds for raw material beneficial to their industries and economies. Germany, France, Russia, Italy, America and Japan became mighty imperial powers by the middle of the 19th century. The scramble for political power and economic wealth saw nations in the African continent and other countries such as India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, succumbing to the scourge of colonialisation, one after the other.

In a natural, and understandable, manner, unrest, and dissatisfaction grew among the people of the subverted countries. A feeling of oppression, and subjugation, led to discontent and frustration and, finally, to successful movements for independence from colonial oppression. The suffering experienced by the people of the occupied countries reminds one of the plight of Oliver Twist, in the book, by Charles Dickens, with the same title. Oliver gets into trouble when he asks for more food, and is punished with solitary confinement, and caning, by Mr. Bumble, the cruel and pompous manager of the poorhouse in which he lives. The theme underpinning Dickens’s message, conveyed through the book, was how the poorest of people in society are treated the worst. Not very different, as history has shown, in respect of countries of the world.

Scriptures of major religions in the world also mention the dangers of succumbing to the temptation of greed and avarice. The Holy Quran, for instance, warns Muslims against greed, and exhorts the followers of Islam not to hoard money but to distribute it to those in need. It goes on to point out that selfishness is a deadly virus that can destroy a human being.

Hindu Scriptures, likewise, highlight the importance of the virtue of attending to the needs of others. The Holy Bible describes, in detail, the harm that can befall a person on account of pleonexia, the Greek word meaning an insatiable desire to possess what rightfully belongs to others.

One unfortunate example, of the untold suffering greed can cause was provided, in recent history, by the concept of, ‘lebensraum,’ which Adolf Hitler, Fuhrer of Germany during the 2nd World War, used as an excuse for giving vent to his highly misplaced feeling of racial superiority, and the burning need to establish Germany as a mighty power in the world. Hitler’s actions caused untold misery and suffering across many countries, leaving economies of the countries ruined and millions dead.

Dale Carnegie, the famous author of the book, “How to stop worrying and start living,” gives an invaluable and practical insight into the nuances of daily life. He strongly recommends the adoption of the ’day-tight compartment’ approach, in which the present alone matters with worries about the future or the past being totally ignored.

A telling illustration, of the approach, “the past is over, the future unknown, only the present matters,” was one that so spectacularly informed the attitude of the swashbuckling Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag. If he played a ball badly, he would simply put it out of his mind, and face the next one calmly and confidently. Such was his confidence in his ability that ‘stand and deliver’ approach mocked the patience and scientific principles advocated by classical schools to which other great batsmen of his time belonged.

A recent, and most welcome, development has been the emergence of indices that measure happiness in countries. And Finland has, for the sixth year running, topped the World Happiness Ranking scores. On a slightly different level, the Happy Planet Index has put paid to the long held view that happiness is an expensive product, and showed that people can be happy without needlessly consuming material goods and pursuing wealth. In a related, and most gratifying, context, Kanpur city figured as the only Indian city in a list of 40 cities across the world in respect of which the Happiest City Index was measured in the world. Among other indices that belong to the same genre is the Gross National Happiness Index in Bhutan.

In other words, as Thomas Carlyle so wisely observed, our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.

A lighthearted story before we end. There was this Scott who had just bought a train ticket, from London, to his hometown in Scotland. He continued to stand, at the head of the queue before the ticket counter, and went on counting the change given him, again and again. Concerned, the clerk at the counter asked him, “isn’t the change right”? The Scott’s terse retort was, “yes, but just right!”

(The writer is formerly Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh)