The Quality Of Happiness.
Happiness is a relative feeling. The best feeling of Happiness is when you just really feel happy. You just cant describe how happy you are at that moment.
Many a time, happiness comes to us in various forms and the relative strength of that feeling is different each time you experience it. Like you are thirsty and you drink a good cool glass of water. You are happy that you are free from thirst. Similar experiences are felt by us on innumerable occasions. We are happy for one thing or the other, for some reason or the other, in our day to day lives.
But the quality of Happiness that a Child experiences is, by far, the purest. The child has no expectations and when happiness descends on the child, the child is genuinely happy.
You can make that out from the sheer shrillness of that childish giggle, and the whole hearted laughter they indulge in, while playing.
And you too, can feel that pure happiness, which the child experiences. If you are a keen observer of a child’s behaviour.
Recently I noticed one such pure happiness enjoyed and revealed by my grand daughter, Ananya, who is just 10 months old.
I took my daughter-in-law Neetha and grand daughter Ananya to the Bank one day. At the bank, Neetha got down to go into the Bank and left Ananya with me. I took Ananya into my arms and made her stand in my seat behind the Steering Wheel. She was holding the steering wheel with both hands and having a jolly good time. She was making various sounds, giggles and shrieks in her own characteristic style. Once in a while she would press the horn button or bend down and hold the gear stick and play with the gear stick knob.
Then, it may have been about 10 minutes or so, Neetha came out from the Bank and we started back. Ananya was sitting in her mother’s lap and enjoying the drive, back to home.
When we reached home, Neetha got down alongwith Ananya. I was to go else where, so I did not get down. Ananya looked at me sweetly and started waving a Bye Bye with her tiny hand. And in her eyes I could see not only a sense of gratitude for the ride I gave her but most importantly, her happiness born out of contentment. She enjoyed the ride. And she was happy. Unlike most babies of her age, she did not cry or make a fuss to get down from the car and let me go. She was happy. That’s all.
And that quality of contented happiness is very rare amongst even grown ups.
Perhaps that quality of Happiness, is what makes one really happy.
Friday,July 30,2010. Evening 6 : 40 PM. Parsa V Ramachander Rao.
