The pursuit of happyness..

If I had to recommend a movie for the masses, it would indubitably be “The pursuit of Happyness.” (2006, starring Will Smith). Circa 1981, the US economy was experiencing a hard time, with many middle class citizens losing their daily bread. This story revolves around the central character of Chris Gardner, a middle class citizen who has a sales business and aspires to become a stockbroker. What follows is a classic narration of the ups and downs faced by the man in a slightly humorous manner, and his unconditional love and dedication towards bringing up his only child, Jr. Christopher. Circumstances change, situations change, and Chris introduces these hardships in an exciting way to his child, to shield his love from the realities of living below the poverty line. After struggling with the sales and losing on his girlfriend, Chris finally gets an unpaid internship for a stockbroker, which he decides to take up. However, lack of basic finances brings him and his child down on the streets, and they take up to living in homeless shelters and behind locked doors of a metro station washroom. However, it’s his self confidence, and the trust and faith of his son, that finally clicks in and Chris turns out to be a Wall Street legend.

Looking at the movie, a long chain of thoughts instigated in my mind- What exactly is Happiness? How do you define happiness? If you had to use one line to describe it, could you do the job with a satisfaction enough to bring tears to your eyes, whenever you yourself would read it? Maybe. Maybe not. But one thing that I learned for sure- happiness surely is an abstract term, every one of us have different expectations from the same bottle- one expects wine, the other thinks of nothing but beer. The bottle remains, and we spend all our lives to touch it- to get a feel of it. And every time we move in, the bottle only sways away further, like an ancient SOS message tossed by a survivor in the wild sea.

The other day, I was traveling along the streets of suburban Mumbai with a close friend, and our bus halted at a traffic signal. We were casually browsing the road, when we saw three street urchins playing across. My friend instantly freaked out at the site of this young brood messing around the footpaths, the road was a busy one with cars zooming past them. But I couldn’t help notice the laughter on that sweet child’s face- he was playing gleefully with his fellow comrades, who were actively involved in sticking their feet out of the path dividers. What seemed like a purposeless endeavor to me, was a ‘pursuit of happyness’ to them. I wondered what would be the last time these urchins ever had a decent meal, or a clean bath. It least bothered them. I could see them, happy. It was all that mattered. They were confidently holding to that very bottle, which sometimes never reaches our outstretched hands in an entire lifetime's journey. Which brought me to the million dollar question - are you really pursuing your happiness? Or are you simply drifting in for another’s bottle…