The real happiness

People work very hard to achieve greater height which is a very natural phenomenon and has been going on for the last so many years. The evolution is also a natural process but one of the most important things which remain constant is the change. We all know that change is inevitable and we have to go through that cycle whether we like it or not. Another thing which has remained constant for the human race is the search for the happiness. Though the reasons for happiness have been different for different people in different areas but the truth is that seeking happiness has been the desire of all races. Some people find happiness in doing some noble service for others and the humanity. In others cases, it may be earning and accumulating a lot of wealth and likewise. Some people find happiness in knowing the nature and trying to sustain that. But have we really attained the real happiness? Yes, there have been people who discovered happiness in the real sense and there are many of them like Lord Mahavira, Lord Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekanand, Swami Dayanand Saraswati,Kabir Ji , Rahim Ji and the list is unending. There search of happiness was altogether different than what most of the people in today`s world desire. They were happy doing something for the cause of the humanity. For them the whole world was like their family and they could prove this by their selfless service for the sake of humanity. They all try to get happiness in the search of the truth and the truth is that all the people on this planet are brothers and the sisters, irrespective of the region and the religion they were born in. Many of the names mentioned above did not have a lot of wealth and those who had it gave up the same, for the sake of finding the truth of the life and serving the humanity. The fact is that more money and wealth does not make the people happier. We all know that in many cases, the ones having less wealth are happier than the ones with lot of wealth possessed by them.

 I was fortunate to attend a function in a village a few days back. Though nobody expected us there, but we were really keen to be the part of that marriage function because of two reasons. One, the person concerned was really very keen that we attended that function.Secondly, we wanted to see the difference between the functions held in the city environment and the one held in a village. When we reached there, it was found that many of them were sitting together and all were really very happy welcoming the guests and the relatives. Once the guest and the relatives were the part of the host family, they started behaving as the host themselves and there was no difference between the host and the guests. What I mean here is, that all of them were happy and welcoming to others. They had time to sit together and discuss about the pleasant and unpleasant things which might have happened in the period they met last. The important thing was that even the children were the part of the group though their interaction was limited to providing help as asked by the elders. We realized that they were learning the lessons of life in an informal way. Also, the number of the people were limited so all could talk to each other and even the real host was at ease while talking to all the guests and the relatives. There were limited number of dishes prepared for everyone. They had one item of sweet and two vegetables served with chapattis. We enjoyed the same very much because everything used in cooking the food was pure because the wheat flour and the ghee used were not purchased from the market but arranged at home only. The people sat together on durries and enjoyed the food. They were served as much food as they wanted and it was found that the wastage of the food was minimum. Though the guests were served limited choices but they all enjoyed the food and the welcoming nature of the host. All this made me to think about the marriage or such other functions held in the cities. I think we rarely find the people sitting together here, rather in most of the cases the arrangement made are such that the guests come and have their food standing and holding their plates and then they go. In many a cases, it becomes difficult to meet the host because of some compulsive reasons. All have the free hand and look for variety food because there would be a large number of dishes available to them. To have many dishes is not the problem but the issue is that most of the people take from all the items and then the things which they do not like are left in the plate or thrown in the dustbin ensuring that nobody detects that happening. The idea behind having many dishes may be to provide cuisines of the choice of  the people but that is usually not taken in the right spirit. Many a times, it appears as if we had gone to attend the marriage function only for the sake of having food and not meeting the host and the family. Both the trends have merits and the demerits but one thing very important which should be remembered is that the wastage of the food is a sin against the humanity because there are hundreds of thousand of the children who are not fortunate enough to have proper meals every day. The huge of money spent on such occasions may give temporary happiness to us, is that for which we came on this planet?  The real happiness will be achieved when we shall be able to understand the real purpose of being on this planet. Striving for more wealth is not necessarily wrong but holding fast to wealth may not be letting us to be happy. We may get happiness in a one bedroom home, but the same may not be available to us in a big bungalow. The real happiness is not accumulating and spending for the self but for the needy ones. We should try not to show off the wealth possessed by us but use and spend it for the benefit of the human race. This may seem to be an ideal situation but if we try to see the people who were really happy are the ones who did not think for the self but for others. The people in the villages should not try to copy the functions and the rituals of the big cities because all the things happening there are not necessarily good or right and do not make you really happy. I am not against anybody but the request to all concerned is to be happy by serving others and not by wasting money more than the other person because you want to be seen wealthier than the other person.