Gross National Happiness- Underestimated and underutilized

Even in times of unprecedented technological advancements, ease of travel, smooth connectivity and all that has made our lives more comfortable, we are not happy. Large sections are dissatisfied with the current political setup, some resent the religious demography of the nation, some are excessively intolerant to what is practically trivia, etc. A part of our vexation can also be attributed to inequitable resource distribution and a deploring climate. Clearly, even growth in double digits can not ensure the real well being and satisfaction of people.

Years ago, a tiny Himalayan kingdom gave to the world an idea, which is still underestimated and underutilized, the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH). Economic or industrial growth is limited to resource and employment generation. GNH is an aggregate that measures how well economic gains are distributed across the economy and how well they impact lives.

This is no abstract concept. There are clearly defined parameters of measurement and a UN Resolution, formulating it into a much required and relevant index.
The four pillars of the GNH are as under:
1. Ensuring Sustainable Development
2. Preservation and promotion of cultural values
3. Conservation of natural environment
4. Establishment of good governance

These are further classified into 9 domains:
a) Psychological well being
b) health
c) education
d) time use
e) cultural diversity
f) good governance
g) ecological diversity
h) community vitality
i) living standards

To further add substance to it, the UN General Assembly decided to bring out a 'World Happiness Report' every year. In 2016, out of 185 countries, Bhutan, the brain behind GNH, ranked 84. Denmark topped the list while Syria and Burundi were found to be the most unhappy countries.India stands at 118 (we are better than just the African continent). Surprisingly, Pakistan is happier at 92!

This is hence, a more accurate index of measuring development as true development or growth lies in betterment of the living standards of people. The objective of the government shouldn't be within the periphery of macroeconomic growth, number boosting and revenue generation, it ought to venture into a citizen's life and ensure his contentment.

Christmas is in our hearts

We don't decorate a tannenbaum,
or get a gorgeous mistletoe
neither do we hang our stockings,
nor lay the table with milk and cookies.
No lights on the fence,
or coloured ribbons on the ceilings.
No candles or turkeys,
no people in new woolens,
or the pretty snow covered roads,
in my arid homeland.
Yet we see a beautiful emotion,
the joy of giving; and
together celebrating and rejoicing.
Sharing with family and friends,
lots of the soft rum cake,
a glass of ginger ale,
those hot, crisp cookies;
and lots of gifts we do share.
We too felt,
the warmth of kind wishes
from a loved one;
the cheer of the party,
as we all get merry.
It's more than just presents and glitter,
those are just a part,
There's no Christmas,
if it isn't in your heart.


Wishing all the readers a Merry Christmas.

 

Have we come full circle?

There is a huge wave of rightist ideologies carpeting the world. There is a right of centre government in India, following BJP’s phenomenal victory and leadership of an extreme rightist Modi ; UKIP in the UK successfully spread a ‘rightist’ air which resulted in the populace demanding an exit from the supranational union.  Germany, Japan, quite possibly with LePenn in France, Venezuela, Poland, Denmark and Hungary; all are showing an inclination towards the political and cultural right wing.  The most substantial evidence though, is the victory of the carpetbagger right-winged Trump. 

Not just in politics, even in the economic sphere, a rightist mindset seems to have set in. There’s increasing apprehension and scepticism regarding globalization which apparently has failed to do all that it initially promised. There is a huge global slowdown, foreign trade is at very low levels, even India’s both exports and imports have fallen. An increasing call for promoting domestic production and manufacturing is almost like rekindling of the century-old Swadeshi movement. 

It won’t be totally wrong to call this a resurgence of old thought. 
-Theoretically and practically, there seems to be again a rising support for slightly autocratic regimes, as is evident from the trends in franchise across the globe, since extreme liberal forms haven’t succeeded in delivering economic growth. 
-A very relevant instance of this would be the re-emergence of terrorism driven by conflict in religious ideology. This sort of violence and retrograde thought in this century is indeed making world peace putrescent. The world is moving ahead so why at all, have such tendencies emerged again?

Over time, people have lived in a system and when burdened with its shortcomings, called for a revolt to institutionalize another. The pros of the newer alternative have almost always outweighed its shortcomings in the minds of people and with time, it succumbs to fate similar to that of its predecessor. Years ago, Marx explained this phenomenon with the theory of Dialectical Materialism.  

Masses outraged with suppressive Feudal Lords revolted to establish laissez faire, equal opportunities for all and boom; capitalism broke the chains of feudalism.  But oh, the relatively richer ones absorbed all the power and the gap between the classes only widened more with the passage of time. They were tired of years of oppression, strict labour laws and a class struggle, when Marx and Engels gave the idea of a society with no-class divide, centralisation of means of production, rule of the proletariat, public welfare and equal wage distribution and there they go embracing communism. But poor thing was also subject to manipulation by the ones in power, subject to jobbery and blotched by restrictions on dissent and free opinion and there we are, bringing the damn thing down again. So, now we have a new kind of system which is a farraginous mix of features of all other systems, resulting in its own set of pros, cons, contradictions, scope and limitations. 

We are a microscopic unit of an infinite universe. We have limitations in resources, space-reach and life-span. Universal laws apply to each and every constituting unit, corresponding to its composition and structure. In such a world, trends and ideas are bound to resurface. 
Man has over millennia evolved and adapted to survive in the changing climatic and geographical conditions. So does our thought. They are generated in specific situations, shared for a while and buried as we move on to newer ones more suitable for newer conditions.

Institutions we find just suitable right now, may yet not be the answer to an open-ended political thought process. Some trends may have resurfaced; some might stay, some we might do away with, indicative of ‘the circle’ being completed. Life cycles are similar to business cycles. Be it fashion styles, prose writing, art, political theories or cultural mindsets, all are bound to complete a cycle wherein they develop, reach a peak, fall out of favour and die down slowly. Interestingly, this applies to such life cycles themselves and they repeat themselves in evolved and varied forms. We might be disappointed with certain developments presently but again, it’s a transient world.

PURPLE

Colour life with purple,
a mix of fierce red and calm blue
and so be rare.
Wear a lighter shade,
be elegant and luxurious
and conquer with delicacy.
A tinge darker,
to chant in spirituality
and spread positivity.
Breathe lavender,
and have a Purple Heart.
Put on violet robes,
exhibit royalty of thought.
Or play in lilacs
& fascinate with unique amour.

Captive in the mind

Captured by strong arms of society,
dragging slowly behind the mob.
Tied to chains of frivolous recreation
succumbing to whims of leisure
Submitting to confines of prejudice,
whipped by age-old diktats.
Giving in to set structures,
frozen brains, not hearts.

Slavery was abolished all over the world centuries ago but unfortunately, nothing has changed.
We are slaves. Not scared and weak slaves like those few centuries ago but fully conscious and aware slaves. We surrender to desire, greed, indolence and hinder our very own refinement. We fall weak before the opinion of the majority and knowingly cage difference in thought. We let distractions take control of our actions and kill our own ambitions and goals. We tie ourselves to pride and ego. Even if we are proven wrong, we just can not admit it. Worst of all, we submit to fear. Fear doesn't always imply being scared, cowardly or apprehensive and it isn't as typical as fear of material things. Fear comes in more latent forms, for example, not having courage to go against popular perception. We fear change. Unconsciously, over time, we have begun to find comfort in existing structures, however wrong or baseless a part of it maybe.

The only  difference in slavery prevalent in those days and now is that an external oppressive force controlled actions that time and today we are consciously allowing ourselves to be controlled by forces that are so easy to conquer. And the latter is worse.

#InternationalDayforAbolitionofSlavery