Happy– Not Happy

Am I Happy? Oh, come on, of course not! If I were to introduce myself à la my favorite cowboy, Quick Gun Murugan, it might go something like this:

“Mango Meadows is where I stay, 91 springboards is where I play, Chinnathambi is my name, I say.”

Let’s just gloss over the tiny detail that Chinnathambi isn’t actually my name, shall we? What’s with this relentless obsession with happiness, I ask?

I mean, Akshay Kumar keeps prancing around calling himself Happy—Happy Bhaag gayi, Happy lauti, and then, surprise surprise, Happy Phir se bhaag gayi. How utterly dull. Listen up, Happy can’t just run away—it’s a state of mind! To put it simply… you can only experience happiness.

I meticulously documented my quest for happiness and the subsequent epiphany in my post “Joy to the World… in 30 Days.” Pay close attention to those who wax lyrical about their life’s tragedies, savoring the morbid satisfaction and the sea of sympathy they bathe in. Their apparent unhappiness seems to be their most cherished happiness.

Over the years, while teaching the Rasa theory and all its glorious intricacies like Bhava, Vibhava, and Anubhava to Bharatnatyam and classical drama students, I’ve yet to encounter happiness or Ananda as a true emotion. Ananda, like everything else in this world, is fleeting and illusionary. So, perhaps happiness is merely a destination.

Physiologically speaking, we could delve into muscle vibrations, heartbeats, and endorphins being released. But those riveting details are all covered in my aforementioned post.

So do I go hunting for happiness? Not really. One learns to recognize it. I’ve come to understand this as the state of “Anantandam.” You might want to start with Pop-Glossop’s chart for 21 days. Somewhere in there, you might just identify your own state of happiness.

Here’s the Pop-Glossop Happiness Chart:

Amused Joyful
Anticipate Kindness
Awestruck Lively
Balanced Love
Blessed Mellow
Celebrated Motivated
Cheerful Optimistic
Confident Peaceful
Content Playful
Giving Relieved
Helpful Satisfied
Honourable Social
Hopeful Spiritual
Humour Thankful
Inspired.

You might step out and experience different states for a while, but you’ll eventually return to your base state. Are smiles linked to happiness? Pop-Glossop also claimed that emotions translate into bodily manifestations.

Take this scenario: Chits smirks at me—a smirk that says, “Yeah, she slipped up.” That probably makes Chits feel superior, momentarily granting her a slice of happiness. Will I smile back, sharing her glee? Of course not. I’d probably turn into a raging storm instead. A quick hijacking of Pop-Glossop’s lecture on smiles:

Pop-Glossop, the sage of smiles, classified them as follows:

• The Happy Smile: Genuine, soul-deep joy.
• The Fake Smile: Eye contact not included; a mere façade.
• The Uncomfortable Smile: A polite grimace masking discomfort—especially if someone’s blurted something awkward.
• The Seductive Smile: Eye contact with a coy lip curl, possibly combined with a regal “Come hither” command or a demure head tilt.
• The Sarcastic Smile: Upturned lips with a tell-tale eye glint.

Dedicated to the Secret Society of Happy People: Here’s to all of us who’ve seen through the charade and embraced the delightful absurdity of our own quest for joy. Cheers!