75% Happiness is Enough


In the book Zorba-the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis, the narrator at one place says
I felt once more how simple a thing is happiness: a glass of wine, a roast chestnut, a wretched little brazier, the sound of the sea. Nothing else. And all that is required to feel that here and now is happiness is a simple, frugal heart.
So true it is! Happiness is found in small, small things but we search for it everywhere without having a clue what we are doing. We squander away precious moments in seeking that elusive joy. We forget that happiness is a state of mind. And to be happy we don’t need anything.
If I had been the creator of the quoted sentence then I would have written it in the following way
I felt once more how simple a thing is happiness: a book in hand, a glass of lemon juice, Kishore Kumar in the background, the sound of rain. That’s what you call bliss! And to experience it, you have to experience it.
Life is short and so we want to do whatever we can in that duration. We save for a rainy day. We participate in the rat race. We surrender to our work. We fight time. We go on telling ourselves that when the time will come, we will enjoy. Sadly, that time never comes, because suddenly we find that we have reached a stage where happiness is only a mirage.
Unfortunately, in this part of the world, happiness for me is only 75%: 25% from the book, 25% from the lemon juice and 25% from Kishore Kumar’s songs; the balance 25% from the sound of rain is not available, and that is my biggest regret.
In order to make up for it, I would put on the shower and as the pitter patter sound emerged, I would settle down in my chair with a book in hand, sipping lemon juice and KK crooning romantically to get my 100% happiness.
But at the end of the month when the water bill came, I decided that 75% happiness is enough.

-          NZ

16.11.2019
BN: 190





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