Dipping happiness quotient

Our economic progress and overall development have been confusing. The Dalai Lama has very poetically framed this ‘Paradox of Our Age’. This dilemma has now lead to surveys that ultimately question, if not puncture, the pride that comes with wealth, power, acquisition — be it for the State or the individual.

The recently released World Happiness Report is a case in point. The Happiness Report is the outcome of a resolution of the 2011 United Nations General Assembly which invited countries to measure the happiness of their citizens to guide public policy.

In the 2018 Happiness Report India rank’s 133, after the Palestinian Territories — a country plagued by strife and foreign occupation, out of the 156 countries surveyed. According to the report the top four happiest countries — Finland, Denmark, Switzerland and Norway — “tend to have high values for all six of the key variables that have been found to support well-being: income, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom, trust and generosity.”

The 2013 report had India ranked at 111. Why has India slipped in the rankings when everyone is either buzzing with nationalism or being buzzed by it when there is a strong Prime Minister at the helm and India is supposedly globally respected now more than ever?

Of course one could point to inequality — according to a 2018 Oxfam report, 73 per cent of the wealth generated in 2017 went to the richest one per cent, the poorest half of the population increased their wealth by one per cent. Or to the fact that 80 per cent of the doctors serves only 28 per cent of the population. Unemployment is another factor that could be considered, it does not only impact the individual but inflicts a slow and silent mental trauma on the entire family.

But the people in Palestine Occupied Territories are living in similar, if not worse conditions, and are happier than Indian citizens.

Could the current trend of nationalism and Hindu revivalism have something to do with India’s abysmal scores?

The 2018 Happiness Report mentions social support, freedom, trust and generosity as key factors for happiness, does nationalism and revivalism foster them?

This is the first time in Indian history when nationalism has a negative connotation. The nationalism of the Indian freedom movement or of the first few Five-Year Plans and that felt during the 1962 Indo-China war instilled everyone with a common purpose.

However, today’s saffron-hued nationalism is divisive. It instils fear either for being of a particular caste or for practising a particular religion and dietary habit. Citizens don’t use their constitutionally protected freedoms for fear of social and official retribution.

The fabric of the country has been weakened and cannot support, let alone protect, citizens. Government institutions supposed to tend it aren’t functioning optimally. So it comes as no surprise that the 2018 Edelman Trust Survey found the trust Indians have in their government has fallen when compared to 2017. There is enough science on the positive link between generosity and wellbeing. But, when society is shrouded in fear and suspicion generosity does not come easy. Thus it comes as no surprise that India’s rank in the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) World Giving Index, which was 69 in 2013, fell to 91 in 2016, rose to 81 in 2017 and again fell to was 124 in 2018. Giving includes volunteering time. Nationalism as espoused by the current Indian government and their cohorts requires funds to embellish this emotion. The Statue of Unity and the Shivaji statue are nothing but nutrients for such nationalism. The approximately Rs 5,800 crore spent on these two structures could have been better invested to improve the country’s ailing public health infrastructure, provide aid to farmers in distress or in other much needed social infrastructure projects. These expenditures have greater tangible benefit across Indian society. Shivaji’s statue will soon overtake the Statue of Unity’s distinction of being the world’s tallest statue, proving that such chest thumping and one-upmanship is not only hollow but short-termed. Do these erections do something for the overall wellbeing of the country when their stature is soon undermined by other larger structures?

There seems to be an inverse relationship between the constituents of the definition of happiness and the growth of nationalism in India. The current political agenda may distract the country from their hunger for a better quality of life but won’t quench it. The opportunities for this truth to pop up will grow exponentially and the intervals between them will reduce.

The 2019 national elections are months away, the incumbent parties would do well to remember Bob Marley’s quote ‘You can fool some people some time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time.’ India’s Happiness Ranking is an unhappy reflection of the country’s rulers succumbing to their personal parochial and recidivists needs instead of ensuring the welfare of people they have sworn to serve. 

Author has worked in the development sector