Happiness and Success

I have the good fortune of growing up in a remote village in backward part of backward Vidarbha region of India, then settling down in a tier 2 city like Nagpur, after working and living in metros like Mumbai and New York earlier in life. I call it ‘from the bank of a pond to the shore of the Atlantic’, or in Marathi, ‘Takya chi paal te Atlantic chi paal’. :-)

I still travel to all these places often. Below are a couple of silent observations.

For years, every time I travel to my village, I see it more-or-less the same except for a few small changes here and there. It is somewhat like just a couple of new brush-strokes in a still painting, though these have increased of late. On the contrary, every time I travel to Mumbai, I am amazed at the changes happened and happening all around me. Another striking difference is, may be a result of this ‘activity’, is that I see people in metros always running after something to ‘achieve’ in spite of already having achieved a lot and being successful. On the other hand, the people in villages seem to be at peace with themselves, their environment and the life as a whole in spite of having too less compared to what people in metros have. Though they occasionally seem to feel they should have the luxuries people in cities enjoy, folks in villages seem to be actually happier than the ones in metros. I am not suggesting that folks in rural areas lack dreams or ambitions but just that they look less anxious and more assured about life. Incidentally, we all have the similar body structure, families and physical requirements regardless of where we live. :-)

There is nothing right or wrong in either way of life though it brings me to the larger questions like what is important in life, ‘success’ or happiness; and how to define and measure success; and the purpose of life itself. I read somewhere that purpose of life is to be Happy! :-)

I leave it to you to ponder and decide for yourself. Thank you for reading. Shall appreciate your feedback and thoughts.


Disclaimer – all generalizations are wrong including this one. :-)
Location: Nagpur, Maharashtra, India

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