Happiness: Explained

True happiness is not attained through self gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose

– Helen Keller

I love to kick start my writing with a catchy line. And since I was running short of one of those, I decided to borrow one from Helen Keller. Well, here I’m writing about a simple question, whose answer is not-so-simple. The question, what is true happiness? Think for a couple of moments and if you have a satisfactory explanation, don’t bother reading any further. Else…

Scientifically speaking, happiness is a state of mind in which the chemical composition of brain changes, making the person experiencing this change, feel good. Alright, then what triggers this? This question is highly individualistic in nature. Because different people think differently. And as per me, different people should think differently. To some happiness could be writing a poem, to some, listening to a particular genre of music, while to some others it could be sitting with friends sipping some whiskey.

This highly personal nature of the phenomenon of happiness has brought in a fair amount of confusion amongst people. So, our society constantly tries to define the boundaries for being happy. These could range anywhere from having a dinner at the fanciest hotel with your family to owning a luxury car. To my observation, the capitalist society tries to brainwash people by linking happiness to materialistic possessions. Essentially there is no relation in between being happy and possessing tons of wealth. Quite often than not, confused souls fall prey to this trick and then starts their pursuit of accumulating wealth. People get so much overboard with this idea that they forget what they really wanted, when they started this blind folded run.

What amuses me is that when few (very few, indeed) show no interests in the pattern set by society, people make no hesitation in concluding their being abnormal. On the other hand if you crave for all the luxuries in life, it is considered perfectly normal. I find this just hard to digest. Probably many succumb to this sort of pressure and alter their thinking in life. By the time they realize their mistakes, their grand children would be about to make the same mistake. Life… happens.

It is possible to happy sans having any wealth but seldom without being able to share your feelings. I will leave you with this thought. Amongst all your happy moments so far, how many times do you remember yourself happy because of "things" and "not people"?

Where is Innovation taking us?

In the past couple of decades, technology has revolutionized our lives. Along with technological advances, innovation has probably been overdone. Its effects haven’t gone down too well with people. So, where is this ‘over-innovation’ taking us? To answer this question, I would like to quote few articles, which I have read in past several days.

iPhone defined what a smart phone is. When it was introduced people were awestruck with its touch-screen, sleek looks and variety of apps it provided with. Then came the various flavors of iPhone with more and more improvements. As of 2010, it also made video calling possible. Awesome! In this process of innovation, what was forgotten is that the main (NOT the sole) purpose of a phone is to make and take calls. Oh yes, smart people realized this before I did and recently a new phone called “anti-iPhone” was launched. What are its features? One can make and take a call, that’s it. It comes with a regular diary and pen to note down phone numbers instead of a phonebook feature. My parent’s generation had only such phones. Wow!

Once upon a time, in organizations there used to be a role available called the telephone operator. With the automated voice responses becoming popular, the next generation will probably not know that such a role existed. Recently, cognitive-psychologists understood that if a human answers a call instead of digitally recorded voice, the customer satisfaction goes up. No wonder organizations are switching back to the traditional telephone operators, to give a boost to their business. In US many companies have already started giving ads about how ‘true-humans’ answer our calls instead of recorded voices.

So, the trend is clear… It is invention, innovation, over-innovation followed by switching back to the good old idea. Did I get it right?

I or M?

This article has been due and I felt just needed that extra time and extra motivation to compile it, which I ultimately found today. If you are wondering, what the hell this guy is trying to convey, by such a weird title, let me throw some light on it. I or M, here are abbreviations for Intelligence or Money. Now probably some of you might be interested in reading further. Most of us are raised with this logic that more intelligence means better grades, better grades means better schools and better schools directly translate into higher salary. And when I try to argue countering this logic, this probably amuses people. I fervently believe that there is no logic to determine the relation between intelligence and money. However people often deduce a mechanism, the more money you have, the more intelligent you are. Oh yes, the rich man is handsome, makes incredibly funny jokes and sings well too.

What trend I have observed is that people are just fascinated with wealth and pay least attention to the intelligence that goes behind earning it. To prove my observation, I did a small experiment (which you may do it in under 2mins).I googled names of four people who are either wealthy or extremely intelligent. For Richard Feynman google gave 3,140,000 pages while for Richard Branson, there staggering 4,250,000 pages. Another two people I tried were John Nash at 2,070,000 pages lagged behind Warren Buffet with 3,500,000 pages. I bet most of my readers wouldn’t have ever heard of Richard Feynman or John Nash. To me, focusing on money and trying to somehow relate it to or ignore it for money, is in a way bankruptcy of thought. One needs to evolve beyond materialistic world, in order to realize the complete advancement in the society.

Of course these are my personal thoughts. When you ask me this question I or M, I would go with I, simply because I find I factor more appealing. To many it’s M. But secret is, without I, M seldom stays! Ah… am I pimping for people to focus on I. You decide.

Enacting Movies In Real Life

Do movies inspire people to do something, which they wouldn’t have done had they not seen it in a movie? As a 16 years old, my answer to this question would have been, “No, but I’m a special person who would do so” More than a decade later, there is a change in my answer and it is, “Of course yes. Had movies not portrayed a particular location or situation, no one would have ever paid attention to it”

Movies don’t only serve as a way of recreation, but also play an important role in setting a trend. Most certainly, they leave their strong impression on people who seriously get involved with the characters. Eventually you see the same styles, clothes et al which the leads opted for, on screen, becoming a trend.

Out of curiosity, I was searching the web for information on some locations, which were covered in a movie that I saw recently, of course with the intention to visit them. What this search revealed was something interesting. I was no exception. Though this movie was not that popular, there were more than six people I came across, in my shallow searching itself, had gone to the very same locations, after they saw the same movie. More interesting was some of them had even visited those places in the same order which they were shown in the movie. Ha, crazy, isn’t it?

A few days back, when I had read a study published in a leading news paper that “Romantic Comedies Could Damage Your Relationship” I said to myself, how silly. Now, I re-read the same article and agree with that study. After all rom-coms are targeted at that age group and that sort of people who think more from heart and less from brains. Probably if someone wants to set a good trend or make a positive impact on the society, it would be worthwhile to consider making a good movie. Of course, only if you have that talent!

The Strabucks Way

I have been longing to write this article for a long time now, but have been giving it a miss, just because it doesn’t seem to fit into the category of my previous articles. Then I thought why shouldn’t I try something different? So, here comes this article.

If you have known me well, you would know that my flair for a cup of coffee is eternal. Obviously, I have been a Starbucks addict, ever since I landed in the US. Phrases like, “When in US, you are never too far from Strabucks”, “Don’t know where Starbucks is located, just peep out of your window and you should find one” are often cited to make you understand the brand power of this coffee chain giant.

Why I love Starbucks is because the way in which they do their business. Firstly, I feel that each item on the menu is great and reasonably priced. It is genuine role model for corporate ethics. Be it recycling or offering free Wi-Fi to their customers, they would always set a fine example. And another thing I really like about Starbucks is, each time you buy something they would ask if we need a receipt. And only if you need, they would print it out and thereby reducing a lot of paper waste (It is estimated that more than 80% of receipts are not needed by the customers) Applying common sense, coupled with good intentions make them a class apart. Of course other coffee chains can emulate these methods, can’t they?

If you ever get an opportunity to visit Starbucks, please don’t miss it. Since I’m an old school, my choice would be a cup of brewed coffee, with little sugar and cream. Of course, you may try out many more flavors. Good news is that Starbucks will be soon seen in India.

Unexpected Resolutions

I saw this award winning documentary called “Struck, the film” which inspired me to write this article. What was remarkable about this movie was it captured emotions and facts about human life, without much conversation.

The protagonist is shown with a arrow struck in his heart throughout the movie, which adds the bit of humor too. This signifies that he probably had a break up. To resolve his condition, his friend introduces him to various girls, one at a time. Each meeting gives rise to a new sitcom, but always in vain. It turns out that one day, without any plan or expectations he goes to a laundry only to find this beautiful girl. The moment she approaches him, the arrow that had been struck for quite a few days, falls down. And they both live happily ever after.

If we carefully observe our daily life, it wouldn't take much efforts to find incidents where in our problems get resolved at unexpected times, in unexpected ways. When we plan a lot, make a desperate attempt to make things happen, seldom do they happen, especially in the matters of heart. Though ‘Love’ and ‘Logic’, both begin with ‘L’, they hardly coexist. A firm belief that eventually everything is going to work out is the secret to find these unexpected resolutions.

PS: Here's the link to watch that movie http://www.struckthefilm.com/

Comparison

If I begin another post by asking you to pardon me for the delay, I guess I will start sounding very monotonous. So getting straight into the matter, here I go.
Comparison is one human tendency which has existed for ages. Be it sports, academia, or just day to day life, comparison always makes room for itself. So, the question is why do we compare at first? Before answering to this question, I would like to tell you one thing… In life if something has lasted for ever, there has been some benefits out of it. If there were no benefits, a phenomenon cannot last for this long. Hence I would first throw some light at the positives of comparison.

I am of the opinion that if there is a comparison, no one prefers to lose. The human ego brings out the best performance at times, thanks to comparison. Another way of looking at this would be a feel good factor, which leaves us with satisfaction. If we compare ourselves with someone inferior, quite often than not, there is a gratifying feeling that we are superior to someone. This was understood by the great Gautama Buddha and hence when a man complained that he had no footwear, and how his friend had good footwear, the Buddha asked him to look at a man with no legs.

Positive points bring with them some negatives as well. The biggest negative that comparison brings in is jealousy. Mindless comparison and meaningless conclusion, certainly leads to jealousy. There is no greater evil than jealousy in human life. It is believed that the great Buddha fell a victim to his brother’s jealousy and ultimately died. From the time since great Buddha to a recent survey by a premier US Psychology school shows that there is no real change in human attitude. The survey asked people to select one of the two cases
1. Your salary as $100,000/year while your friend’s salary as $75000/year
2. Your salary as $150,000/year while your friend’s salary as $180,000/year
Shockingly, more than 80% people opted to first case, making a sacrifice of $50,000/year, just to see a friend earning less than them.

Based on the above two paragraphs, I need no rocket science to conclude that there is both positive and negative to the phenomenon of comparison. It’s only up to an individual, as to what he decides to do with it. At this point, I would leave you thinking about where you would place comparison in your life?

Mirroring

This article has been due for a while. These days I have been busy beyond compare, with my work and academics. But, if you have to write something, you will, whatever be the case. With the same spirit I’m writing this article, amidst of a busy week.

Quite often than not, you see people neglecting others, but get offended when others start neglecting them. Everyone wants to be loved, cared and treated well. But how many people really are willing to show the same attitude towards others? Here’s a short story I had read as 10 years old, which throws some light on this subject matter. Guess these adages are more effective at that age and as we grow up, we tend to forget their importance and move on.

Once, a little boy named John went alone to woods. He hardly saw anyone there. This probably got him annoyed and he started uttering swear words, aloud. Quite to his astonishment, someone used the same swear words back at him. He felt terrible about being in the woods and returned home. He described his experience to his mom. His mom realized what went on in the woods and asked John to go back to the same woods and this time instead of swear words, asked him to try using some pleasant words. Little ones often follow what is taught to them blindly and the next day as expected he went to woods and started giving complements to the woods. In return, he heard the same complements back. John went back all happy this time and hugged his mother. His mother said, “This is how it works in life. When you use kind words at others, they will use kind words at you. When you do some good deeds to people, people will do some good to you. It’s simple, when you stand in front of mirror and make a frown face, obviously your reflection will not be smiling”

Probably, little John understood this dynamics of life, but alas, we grownups seem to have forgotten it. It will be only fair to expect others to behave in the same way, the way in which we behave with them. That’s life. The principle of echoing and mirroring may have got a lot to do with science, but this principle holds good in our day to day life as well.

Mother Tongue: A Natural Advnatage

After giving it a miss to post any article in the month of May, here I am back with this one. May was just too busy for me initially with academic work and later part with travel.

Well, it’s a long standing debate whether a child learns better in mother tongue or not? This view point is extremely important from our country’s perspective as an overwhelming majority of students do not study in their mother tongue. For most, there is no alternate to English, when it’s a question of successful career for their future generation. Of course factors such as globalization, our ties with US and the never ending colonial effect, make English the de facto choice as the medium of study.

But well, what’s the thing which we lose out when we go in for English, or any other language which is not our mother tongue, for learning. Regardless of how many languages one speaks, it’s a known fact that humans internally translate every language into their mother tongue and understand it. Enough practice makes a person good at a language and masks the mother tongue impact, with time. But, then, there is this extra effort. So, along with the learning effort, the internal translation effort also needs to be considered. But we can do little or nothing about it as this is the lesser evil among the available choices.

There is probably one alternative which I remember reading in an article by Swaminathan Aiyar (a noted Economist and Columnist with the Times of India), which didn’t appeal to me then. That was to make children learn in their mother tongue until their fourth grade and when they seem to understand things better, switch over to English. Today, I find this solution more appealing because of an incident that I experienced recently. While attending a seminar in one of the courses I have opted for, an American student who is technically sound, delivered a seminar effortlessly. His communication (obviously in his mother tongue), but not his technical skills, made that seminar sound outstanding. I have seen several other International students, who are technically as good as he was, but cannot do, as good a job in delivering a lecture. Probably not being able to speak in their first language does them in. I would say, I envy the Brits and the Americans, who by several means and past history have left others with no choice than to learn their mother tongue. This probably is going to keep others second in the race, all the time, because of the obvious advantages.