Be happy to be healthy

The other day, a beautiful, vivacious, chirpy, young lady who is committed to homoeopathy, spoke to us, a group of meditators. She is a qualified homoeopath and also practises other forms of alternative medicine. She related her experience with patients whom she had successfully treated on the basis of their symptoms. Her understanding of the real person under the outer veneer helps her to effectively diagnose and treat the malady. Her final giveaway was, ‘I have rarely seen happy people fall sick.’

That was an emphatic statement from a busy doctor. The question that naturally raises its head is — who is a happy person? You google for an answer and get countless quotes defining happiness. There are some which qualify to explain the term and at the same time, there are many which tickle and inspire you to share the ‘happy’ post with friends on social media.

But how long does this sense of wellbeing, joy or contentment last?

Our happiness graphs resemble the familiar ups and downs on an ECG print. Happiness, as we know of it, also has a euphoric peak and then the post-experience low, maybe after a short plateau. Happiness has to be something which does not waver in its quality once reached, under any circumstances. It’s something that makes you yearn for nothing more, makes you grieve for nothing. Maybe bliss is the right word to convey that feeling. Being in love comes closest to being in that state because no conditions apply there. A constant state of being in love would be a state of continued happiness. And love here is not the boy-meets-girl story that you see in movies. Love is that which comes from accepting whatever and however things are. When there is no need of any need. Such happiness makes you not just happy but blissful.

There is no give and take, no wish to possess and absolutely no expectations. Go ahead and hug a tree. Feel the feel that flows between you two. What about watching the stars lying down on the rooftop of a village house! Or an early morning walk on the shimmering dew, delicately hanging on to the grass. Where are ‘you’ there? You become a part of the whole. You are in love with yourself, with everything around.

Gulzar’s love knows no bounds in ‘Garmiyon ki raat jo purvaiyan chalen, thande safed bistar par jaagen der tak, taaron ko dekhte rahen chhat par pade huye, barfili sardiyon mein ki si raat mein kabhi, vaadi mein goonjati hui khamoshiyan sunen.’

There is no condition in love. The more you love, the more you become love. The more you become love, the happier you are. A happier you is a healthier you. Not a bad bargain, eh!