DNA Edit: Finding happiness – Indians seem to be besieged with problems

This year’s UN World Happiness Report shows that Indians have become less happy compared to last year. As per the report, their disatisfaction is evident when it comes to the six parameters of income, freedom, trust, healthy life expectancy, social support and generosity that the UN uses to gauge how happy a country’s citizens perceive themselves to be. The country’s fall by seven notches to 140th position this year puts it behind puts it behind Pakistan (67th), Bangladesh (125th), and China (93rd). A total of 156 countries were ranked this year on the basis of questions from the Gallup World Poll. The results are then tallied with other factors, including GDP and social security. Should one take this happiness exercise seriously, especially since Pakistan, a failed democracy and a poorer country than India, and China, a dictatorship, have fared better than India on the list. 

However, the world has become an unhappy place as there has been a surge in negative emotions such as worry, sadness and anger, and India’s slide has contributed to the depressing milieu. The Scandinavian countries, as usual have fared brilliantly. Finland has been ranked as the happiest country in the world for the second year in a row, followed by Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The African countries have, unsurprisingly are at the bottom of the heap: South Sudan, followed by Central African Republic, Tanzania and Rwanda. The incontrovertible fact is the world is divided between the haves and have-nots, and barring a few exceptions, this division also reflects the state of well-being of the peoples. The problems of populous nations like India, primarily the mad scrambling over limited resources, pose unique challenges to happiness. But more than happiness, it is the wealth gap between the rich and poor of the country that should be a matter of serious concern.