Rajesh Ranjan's Weblog

Everyone wants to be happy and happiness means different things to different people. It may depend on the baggage a person carries with him/her and the experience s/he may have through the life.

People feel happy about getting what they desire and might have longed for it for some time. Having a sumptuous meal is a moment of joy for someone. Some other person is happy with delicacies of cuisine and having it with the family- near and dear ones at a place of their choosing.

This reflects on the fact that hunger is the first and the most basic drive/desire in human conscience. When people are extremely hungry, their motivation to attain food completely changes their behaviour. When someone is hungry, the need for food dominates everything else. It is this biological need which explains the most fundamental urge in a human being. Some of the philosophical and socio-political thoughts would also find origin in this very urge of hunger and the ways and means to satiate it.

Happiness is also about socializing. It is about meeting and bonding with people you like. A meal or a drink with dear one(s) can bring happiness for someone. Sense of accomplishment and appreciation received for the same would also be a source of happiness for a person. Sometimes, a boss or a superior saying good about you makes the moment unforgettable. Shopping something your eagerly wanted can also make people happy. Finding a soulmate would be happy moment for someone.

Sometimes, people don’t find any specific event/occurrence when asked what they feel happy about. We need to think to recollect happy moments from our own lives. This may be because people take things in their surrounding for granted. The interaction we have with neighbourhood – living and non-living alike – seems so routine that we don’t look for something else like happiness in it. We feel happy or sad but do not record it and/or remember it.

It would be a revelation for many while having the conversation with the family members regarding what makes them happy. We usually do not touch upon such matters openly which are important in life and these are generally lost in the daily chores of routine things. Most of the times, we discuss repetitive things. Probably, we should be doing discussions on offbeat topics to explore the more humane aspects of relationships and more frequently as well.