Happiness quotient on speakers' mind

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, October 14 

Ambition is “to be a happy person” — Zorawar Singh Minhas (24). 

“At the end of the day, we are not happy people. No one is happy lynching, no one is happy being lynched, no one is happy ranting about nationalism, fascism or right wing politics. Simply being more compassionate, accepting people without judging and respecting them in their privacy, is what we need to aim for.”

Twenty-four-yr-old Zorawar says this as he hears Poonawala speak about mob lynching incidents in the country.   

Through the most tragic turn of events, Zorwar found happiness and peace. A final year Law student, he went through a tough phase when he lost his 18-year-old brother Ajit Singh Minhas in a car accident.

However, unlike many others, rather than fall prey to the circumstances, he began reading and searching on the internet on how to cope with the blues. The search led him to a place where today he speaks to people on finding peace, compassion and happiness.        

While most people list career-oriented materialistic ambitions, he says his aimis “to be a happy  person.”   

“My brother died in a freak car accident due to overloading of trucks. It was then that I began searching for answers on how to cope with death. How to develop various techniques which help you lead a happy life? It is significant to search the importance of emotional intelligence and emotional quotient since there is a total lack of emotional education in our education system,” says Zorawar who studies at the GND varsity regional campus and was one of the speakers at the Ted Ex Talk. “Happiness is a science, skin as well as muscle,” he quips. 

Shezad Poonawala 

The youngest secretary of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, Shehzad Poonawala, who has been a member of the Congress party for the past 15 years, is known for his stand against mob lynching. He is one of the petitioners in the Supreme Court on the issue of cow vigilantism.

Poonawala is also one of those behind the draft legislation called the Manav Suraksha Kanoon which is a law that prohibits people from taking the law into their hands and lynching people. It is the first law against lynching, “endorsed by 10 political parties including the Indian National Congress as well as social activists including Shashi Tharoor.”

While Poonawala was here to speak at the Ted Ex Talk on fake nationalism, he stated, “I draw a distinction between the nationalism we see today and the kind of patriotism that helped us achieve our independence. There are perils of nationalism, which can create a situation which led to the two world wars. It also emphasises on how we run the risk of creating that atmosphere even today. 

How we must avoid the frenzy and channelise the love of our country in a more positive, constructive way.”

Speaking on the Rohingya crisis, Poonawala said, “The SC yesterday said we must be sensitive to the cause of the Rohingyas. It is not a religious issue as made out to be. Rohingyas are being called a national security threat. If that is so, show us the FIRs which charge them with national security crime and deport those people back. But you can’t say because one of them is allegedly involved in something. All of them should be seen in the same light. India has an international obligation as part of the United Nations. Because of that they can’t send a refugee who comes to their door back to a country where their life is in peril. We need to tell that to Myanmar in clear terms.”  

Referring to the recent mob lynching incidents in the country, Poonawala said, “There is a scientific research that when people are unemployed and frustrated, they choose a mob over jobs. There are lots of economic studies which show there is a rise in crime when there is a rise in unemployment. Currently, the country is facing the highest unemployment in the last five years. The figures are out there.”