Everybody wants Happiness. And Happiness, not Wealth, is the most sought-after attribute. Yet, unalloyed, complete Happiness, in the sense of an absence of Unhappiness, does not exist! This statement may seem to be a contradiction of sorts, but it is not. Taken at face value, many will wonder what is the point of pursuing Happiness if it indeed does not exist? But be patient and you may understand the contradiction.
Many years ago, I read a legendary Italian folk tale, The Happy Man’s Shirt, which I wish to share in brief. There was a king in olden times who had everything but who was always sad. The doctors diagnosed him as a case of melancholia and the cure was for him to wear the shirt of a happy man. Simple, thought the queen who called the army chief. He too thought, what a simple job, the nobility surely must be the happiest people in the kingdom. But after meeting every nobleman, and noblewoman, he found out that none were happy. He then went lower down the order in the capital and still did not find a happy citizen. Finally, he asked the troops to search the countryside. Many weeks later, they found a man in a cave whistling a happy tune. They were wondering whether it would be worth questioning him about happiness, since he did not seem to have much. But when they did, he admitted that he was truly happy. “Give me your shirt,” shouted the excited captain, “and I will make you rich beyond your wildest dreams!” “Sir,” stuttered the poor happy man, “I do not have a shirt!”
Our life ought to be like that. We must understand that Happiness cannot lie in having everything, but in being happy with whatever we have. We have discussed earlier that material wealth is not inclusive of Happiness, but the current argument goes beyond. The point that I wish to make here is that a happy person is the one who is happy even in unhappiness. There is a wrong notion that Happiness means an absence of Unhappiness. I believe that if life serves you a lemon, make lemonade. It is only when you can accept Unhappiness as unequivocally as you accept Happiness, then you have transcended them both. Remember, sadness and adversity are not to be despised or feared; they enrich human character. They inspire us with grit and make life worth living. Of all the days I can recall, I can never forget the 20-odd days I had to spend in a railway platform in Mumbai when all my creditors shut their door on my face. In closing, I would like to quote from the memorable farewell speech of Richard Nixon, who was pushed out of the most powerful office on earth by the Watergate scandal. When he was leaving the White House ignominiously, he said on national television, “Only if you have been in the deepest valley, can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain.”
The writer is a renowned film and theatre actor