THE HAPPINESS QUOTIENT

Mario Gotze scored a solitary goal for Germany in the extra time during the Football World Cup finale at Brazil. The kick that he gave the Adidas's Football catapulted the 80 million Germans into a frenzy of happiness and unparalleled joy. The ball flew into the Argentinian Goal Post and the entire German population exploded. Their world came to a standstill and their happiness touched its zenith. The happiness of the German Team's Captain Philipp Lahm knew no bounds and he announced his retirement from the international football at the ripe age of 30 years to continue to soak in the joy of this remarkable victory. The now united Germans  further strengthened their bonds as 11 Men in their national colors swept the Globe's largest watched sport.

           

Happiness comes from within and surely has a large role to play in human lives. The happy humans keep the Numerator value high and always minimize their Denominator values. The quotient of happiness multiplies many folds with a big and strong numerator.

           

Way back in time, we were happy children. Our ancestral house had large courtyards and we had wooden toys. These toys had various shapes and there were moving variants also in the shapes of bus, carts and train models. The lack of pollution and simple food habits kept our energy levels high  and we stayed chirpy the whole day. Another happiness for us those days used to be ant fields in the courtyards. Most afternoons me and my friend would get around under the Guava trees and see the ants at work. We would keep a piece of bread in the middle of the ant fields and then see the various types of ants coming over to gather their food. The groups of ants which reached the food faster would swell early and try to move the bread piece towards their home. Soon it would be fight for survival and the bigger ants would invariably pull the piece away. We would then drop another piece nearby and see the amazing turn of events of these small creatures. Moving their antennas we would watch various ants carrying out multifarious activities and the common aim was to move the bread piece closer to their home. At the mouth of the ant home, they would give a massive push and the food would disappear inside. The work of these ants rarely finishes and they are always active and walk large distances to make their lives meaningful. Probably, they keep the Numerator Value (Food in their case) very high and Denominator Value (lack of will to work) very low and keep their happiness quotient at a high pedestal.

              

In the courtyard, the Guava trees were always under an attack from the chirpy parrots. These birds would keep attacking the Guavas and many a fruit crop was damaged by their sharp beaks. The parrots would only attack the guavas on trees and not which would fall down after their attack. We would keep an eye on these birds and use our Diwali guns to scare them away. Our happiness quotient used to be high playing and enjoying with the parrots, ants, crows and sparrows. We would excitedly look forward to the next day and the next noon time play after the school. The frenzy of the large happiness quotient is unparalleled. The Germans are basking in it and so did we all as young children. The quotient starts shaking as we grow big and when we start increasing the value of the Denominator in our lives. Our demands and desires are the first shake-up points for the small denominator of our childhood. The Happiness Quotient's graph plunges up and down as we fiddle away with its fragile values.

              

The 11 men kept their momentum up and met the challenges of Lionel Messi and his 10 men with grit and determination. The barriers could not be broken by both the sides for the first 90 minutes. The eyes watching these 22 men kept glued to their antics and waited for that miracle moment. The moment did arrive but after 113 minutes into the grand finale. Mario Gotze controlled a cross with his chest and in one fluid motion volleyed the ball past the Argentinian goalkeeper Sergio Romero and inside the far post from five yards out. Germany were world champs after 24 years!! The Happiness Quotient soared high as all the denominator values crashed and crumbled to almost zero. 

Our endeavor must be to keep the Happiness Quotient on an upswing. Keep the chin up and take the challenges head on with grit, determination and courage of conviction. Candor is the need of the day and is surely an add on for the Numerator of life.