Happiness Quotient

The supplement of today's Hindu newspaper carried an article to the effect that India ranked fourth in the happiness of people. It went on to say that Indian exult at life's little things like a well made Idli or a leisure trip to ones native place or even a mere visit to the shop nearby..
Carrying it further, I would like to add that to In dians the family is still the very primary bolster.. For a good cross section of us, all our motivation, inspiration and desires spring from the fact that we are rooted in a family.. Imagine eating a meal alone vs. with your loved one... Imagine shopping for Diwali,Ramzan or Christmas alone vs. with the entire family... For the average middle class family(that forms a good proportion of the Indian population) life revolves around parents, spouse,siblings children and other relatives and friends...When a middle clas person gets a rise in his salary, he would be thinking more as to how he can make his family happy with the additional income, than about the very fact that he has been given a rise.... When we do have loved ones, and ones to love us, and love expessed not on an appointment basis , but on a day to day basis, our happiness quotient is bound to be at astronomical levels.

So, does that study take into acount the population in their sixties and seventies.... I am not sure.... But those who did figure in that study can make the lives of these senior citizens as happy... A short visit to your aged relative's place can usher in a whole lot of happiness into his life for at least that day... and if an aged relative does pass away, you won't be left with the guilty feeling that you failed to make him happy before he departed.