Being happy

January 20, 2015

• An assessment challenge

How do you assess whether a person is happy? Just after the euphoria of the triumph of the democratic process in our country, escaping from the brink of dictatorship and authoritarianism, would it be reasonable to say that most of the people are reasonably happy that we had a relatively peaceful election and a sensible transfer of power?
Or is this simply our democratic right – to be expected as the right of a citizen living under a democratic constitution, to have the capacity to act democratically – and nothing to be deliriously happy about? Or can people be said to happy that the possibility of economic largesse of a new Government, expecting to go before the people again in a short while, will result in prices going down and incomes going up?

Being Happy by Thavam Ratna