Human Being and Happiness: Exploring the Challenges
in Its Achievement through Literary Narratives
Dr. Bijender Singh,
Associate Professor,
Department of English,
Indira Gandhi University,
Meerpur (Rewari), Haryana, India.
Abstract: Every human being is
born happy. However, as one grows, one finds
oneself in the sea of sorrows, pain and predicament. It is not the case of
individuals but groups, communities and nations to pass through depression and stress owing to violence and
other interrelated issues. The happiness
curriculum implemented by the Delhi government
and the mushrooming of mental health and
happiness clinics indicate the prevalence and
seriousness of the problem. Against this
backdrop, this paper investigates the reasons
for societal unhappiness. Who is responsible
for unhappiness and human life? How can one live a happy life? The
researcher has chosen some literary and spiritual texts to investigate and
answer the questions raised. For this analytical
research, the psychoanalytical
approach will be used as a tool for the analysis
of the selected material. The study proves that humans are the genesis of unhappiness in human life. These are
human tendencies to heap and hoard more and more physical resources, power and other
resources to fulfill the ego and prove oneself to be the most powerful and most prosperous. Nevertheless, no one is
happy—poor and rich, powerful and powerless, indigenous or global. Human beings are the main reason for unhappiness in human
lives. The more one strands in search of
happiness, the more one ends in unhappiness.
Happiness is not a social or political phenomenon but a psychological one. One
who understands reality may lead a happy life.
Keywords: Social
structures, Human identities, Violence, Self-satisfaction, Spiritual
Introduction
Humans
are naturally happy in childhood, so they smile and laugh. One cries only for
some physical needs, such as feeding or physical discomfort; otherwise, a child
is delighted. However, one gets angry as a child learns language and starts
imbibing culture. As one grows older, one has other worries and sometimes even
psychological problems. Sometimes unhappiness turns into social evil, and one
perpetuates violence. Sometimes, human becomes part of mass violence, such as
mob lynching, etc. Thus, unhappiness ends in mass unhappiness owing to
different structures such as caste, class, gender, race, ethnicity, colour,
etc. Border violence, sectarian violence, homicide, genocide, fratricide,
patricide, matricide, etc., occur owing to issues that have no solution. Now,
children and students are also in the grip of depression, which sometimes leads
to suicide, even due to cyber bullying or sometimes performance pressure.
Objective
This paper aims to investigate the
reasons for unhappiness in the lives of individuals, communities, societies and
nations. Further, its objective is also to explore the factors,
internal or external, for this unhappiness. In addition to it, it tries to find
the elixir of happiness, i.e. a way to lead a happy life.
Method
and Material
To
accomplish this study, literature and accidents in general, spiritual texts,
and mythologies will be explored. Psychoanalysis and cultural theories are used
as tools to analyse the chosen material. For convenience, the study is divided
into three parts: the first part deals with the problems in the life of
individuals, society, communities and nations; the second part seeks to find
the reasons for all human problems; and the third part enumerates the
challenges and problems in the attainment of happiness in life.
Discussion
The
current Problems
Recently, the Delhi govt had implemented the ‘Happiness
Curriculum’ in its schools, which implies severe unhappiness among students. It
was quite a playful and worry-free phase in the life of human beings, but this
phase is also a dark shadow of unhappiness. Further, suicide by school children
after the declaration of results and the coaching centres' students’ suicide
cases again forces the thinkers that undoubtedly human beings are not happy.
Many professionals are either under stress or are on the verge of committing
suicide, or sometimes they commit.
The kind
and number of cases lying pending in courts again is a testimony to the fact
that human beings are pressed between jealousy, hate and violence. There are
many instances where we come across the cases of sororicide, fratricide,
matricide and uxoricide. All this happens at the personal and family level.
However, a human being is a social one. Being part of society, one is divided
into multiple identities: Black and white, low and high class, low and high
caste, man and woman, eastern and western, English and non-English, colonised
and coloniser, etc.
In India,
people have to deal with multiple structures such as caste, class, gender,
ethnicity and religion. If we look into the caste structure, the lower caste
people are not only marginalised culturally but also economically, socially and
religiously. Consequently, they are exploited, discriminated and oppressed,
which makes their lives hell. Urmila Pawar (2008), Bama (2012), Kamble (2009),
Valmiki (2003), Limbale (2003), and others depict the pain and predicament in
Dalits' lives. Jemeela (2005) and Kaylin (2008) bring forth the hardships and
risks in the lives of prostitutes. Sectarian violence is quite visible in
partition literature, i.e. Singh (2016) and Sidhwa (1989). Nationalism and
violence are depicted in writing such as The
Shadow Lines by Ghosh (2005), etc.
The cases
of matricide, fratricide, sororicide, and uxoricide are also on the rise.
History is full of such horrifying facts. Revenge rape, acid attacks, mob
lynching and communal riots in a free nation are also a day-to-day reality. All
these inhumane acts of violence underline that human beings are neither happy
nor content. All those who are well settled and those who cannot settle well
are unhappy. All those saints want to be or are politicians and homely;
contrarily, householders want to be saints. Neither the rich nor the poor are
happy. So, conclusively, all are unhappy. Sadness prevails everywhere in
everyone's life.
Reasons
for problems
The reasons
for all these inhuman, mindless acts are worldly possessions. Students are
unhappy due to the increasing pressure in their lives. The students are
assessed by the grades they get in examinations. Grades have become crucial in
students' lives, and they must attend multiple coaching sessions after school
hours. Consequently, besides the local tutors, the coaching industries have
also mushroomed up, i.e. Byju’s Classes, Akash and others. In the COVID era,
there are more digital coaching centers like weeds. In addition, the entrance
exams for medical and engineering studies have become more stressful, leading
them to cities like Kota in Rajasthan. Millions of students go to such cities,
out of which thousands are unable to cope with the stress and consequently
commit suicide. Children are not allowed to grow and think naturally. However,
the parents and society treat them like machines, feeding them the data of
their aspirations and dreams and expecting the desired outcomes.
Individuals
are unhappy because of unemployment or undesired employment. From the
beginning, the children are trained and taught the materialistic aspect of
life. Money, status, power, and luxury have become centre stage in human life,
and a person wants to achieve all this at any cost. Some take courses of loot
and theft, while others use immoral means, which lead them to problems or
sometimes to jail. The newspaper generally cites well-educated people involved
in robbery and theft. However, they are involved in fulfilling their will for
luxurious and fashionable modern life. In some cases, some do not even hesitate
to kill their relatives only to get (un)due property share or for inheritance.
Tendulkar (1975) depicts human psychology and social reality through the
historical character of Tughlaq, who kills his father to become the king.
Besides,
rather than postmodernism, modernism has reduced a social being to a
self-centric being. Chauvinism has become the guiding principle of life.
Postmodernism without a fixed centre is centered on individualism and freedom.
Resultantly, every individual has become the centre; thus, the self evades the
family and communitarian values, which is why, in some cases, one is unhappy in
the existing relationships. One continues to search for a new relationship,
which sometimes results in the murder of a partner or any other relatives.
Since human
beings are social beings, one cannot survive alone. Loneliness is the greatest
threat to human beings, which is why they identify themselves in units: family,
community, society, sect and nation, besides language and other identities.
This sense of togetherness boosts their morale, resulting in their superiority.
Furthermore, it is well-known that no idea or construction occurs in a
singularity.
Consequently, society is divided into
binaries—ideologically, socially, morally, ethically, politically, economically
and otherwise. Therefore, the sense of
superiority brings the notion of inferiority too. As a result, men started
dominating the others on axes of caste, class, gender, race, ethnicity, etc.
All ideas are partial representations of truths. Thus, in an attempt to
dominate others, the dominant him/herself is also dominant in equal proportion
to that of the dominated. Dominant’s problem is that s/he is to keep the status
quo and has to face the reaction too, and the dominated one’s challenge is the
domination and action to overthrow that domination. Irrespective of ideological
practice in vague, all are trapped in unhappiness. So, all ideologies end in
unhappiness for all.
The main
reason for unhappiness is unnaturalness and an extroverted perception of life.
Human beings have forgotten their purpose in life and their authentic self. He
has taken the outer or physical self for granted and has been indifferent to
his true self, ‘the atman’. Hindu
mythologies are full of the philosophy of life—the true self and its true
purpose. ‘Know thy self’ has been represented only to know the physical self.
The true self has become absent from human life.
“Aham
Brahmasmi” [I am Brahma] is the core of spirituality, which may lead a person
to self-contentment, self-sufficiency, omnipotence, and omnipresence. However,
being aloof from this philosophy, he searches for the ‘Brahma’ in the materialistic world and its possession. As one gets
away from its origin, one becomes impure, impotent and lastly, a non-entity.
This is presented in the movie Ram Teri
Ganga Maili as the character Ganga in the hills is as pure as purity
itself, but as she gets down from the hills, she is sold, raped and
prostituted. So, home is the only place one can get peace and wholeness. This
idea is propagated by Ezekiel (1960) in a poem, “Enterprise”, where it says
“Home is where we have to gather grace.”
Besides,
the ego is the centre of all unhappiness in modern times. Once a human being
becomes selfless materialistically and selfish spiritually, one may be out of
all the structures. Once the chains of domination disappear, one enjoys one's
true self. When one has nothing to lose, one is the richest; one who is
powerless is powerful. As already discussed, all come in binaries, so power in
the physical world brings powerlessness, too. Nevertheless, it is diagonally
opposite in the spiritual world.
Conclusion
The above discussion indicates that happiness is natural and
unhappiness is unnatural. Everything unnatural is man-made. Therefore,
unhappiness is also man-made. To bring happiness, one must lead a natural life
and listen to the natural self. All worldly knowledge turns human beings into
unnatural beings. Therefore, to restore happiness, human beings need
spirituality more than anything. Only then can human beings be happy and
content.
Moreover, this world is a livable place full of love and
peace, human values and dignity. In a nutshell, “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” [The
world is one family] is the need of the hour rather than the other identities,
for this man must lead a life of non-entity. The only solution to restore
happiness may be traced back to folk wisdom, if not anywhere else, and that is “Jai sukh chahvai jeen ko, tai bhondu ban ke
rah” [if you want happiness in life, be ignorant]. Further, it may be said,
as Osho says, “Blessed are the Ignorant.” Here, ignorance is used in terms of
worldly knowledge. Once one is ignorant, one gets enlightened. Furthermore,
enlightenment is the supreme goal of human life.
Works
Cited
Bama. Karukku.
Oxford University Press, 2012.
Ghosh, A. The
Shadow Lines. Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt,
2005.
Jameela, N. The
autobiography of a sex worker. Westland, 2005.
Kamble, B. The
Prisons We Broke. Orient Blackswan, 2009.
Karnad, G. Tughlaq.
OUP, 1975.
Kaylin, S. Anything
but a wasted life: A memoir. HarperCollins, 2018.
Limbale, S. Outcaste.
OUP, 2003.
Osho. Blessed
are the Ignorant. Osho International Foundation, 1980.
Pawar, U. The
Weave of My Life. Stree, 2008.
Sidhwa, B. Ice-Candy
man. Penguin, 1989.
Singh, K. Train
to Pakistan. Penguin, 2016.
Valmiki, O. Joothan.
Samya, 2003.