Why is Bharat actually the happiest nation in the world?

Please read Part 1 – Here

In the previous part, this article had shown how in contrast to what the UN sponsored SDSN report had claimed, India was by no stretch of mind among the unhappiest nations in the world. We had shown that such claims made by SDSN report were not dependent on verifiable facts, but instead was based purely on assumptions and presumptions on what should make people happy, rather than if and whether people were actually happy,

Here in the second and concluding part of the article, we choose to highlight the various factors and causes as to why we consider India to be the happiest nation in the world. But before we proceed, we would once again like to emphasize that our article hasn’t been written with any malice or animosity towards any nation. Instead, the writer of this article is a firm believer in the ancient Hindu mantra drawn from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:

OM Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah

Sarve Santu Niramayah

Sarve Bhadrani Pashyantu

Maa Kashchit Dukha Bhaagbhavet

OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTI

This means “May all be prosperous and happy; may all be free from illness; may all see what is spiritually uplifting; may no one suffer”. This mantra is chanted by hundreds of millions of Hindus on a regular basis and is a prayer for world happiness for the entire world, not just Indians, not just Hindus.

Having said that, the truth is that a far better way to measure happiness would be talking into account those things that matter to all people and communities in the world:- strong family values, civilized human behavior that includes hospitality and interacting with outsiders / foreigners, and rich cultural values that bind one to the other.

Strong family values – low divorce rates

In India, despite growing number of couples separating, overall divorce rates remain at just about 1%. This puts India at the top of the world in maintaining family relationships, systems and values.

In the western countries, number of marriages are shrinking by the day, and the number of single child parents increasing. But even among those getting married, the divorce rates are very high, for example as per 2020 statistics, out of 100 marriages, 90 in Portugal, 68 in Sweden, 61 in Finland, 55 in Norway and 54 in Denmark ended in divorce. In other countries in the West also, 1 out of 3 or 4 marriages ending in divorce is extremely common. In this regard, Europe has among the worst track record in maintaining relationships. And this is not just about formal marriages Any kind of relationships formed do not last long, this includes live in relationships that have in fact a higher likelihood of failing than formalized marriages. The sad outcome is that the number of children living with just 1 parent is extremely high.

One could argue what difference would it make if couples lived together or not, after all it is their choice and they could still be excellent parents to their kids. Well, no one is denying the intent of parents to do good for their kids, but scientific studies have proven something that our ancients knew all along. That is in order to properly nurture a child and raise him/her in a good, loving conducive environment, both parents are definitely needed in the household.

In fact, the probability of children from single parents turning to illegal activities and violence is extremely high, as revealed in a study done by reputed behavioural scientist Janique Kroese who writes “Children growing up in a single-parent family have a higher risk of committing crime during their adolescence.” In the USA, which has some of the highest numbers of violent crime in the world, more than 23% of kids grow up in single parental homes, as compared to just 4% in India.

Fact remains that strong family bonding does prevent kids from falling into bad company, and committing crimes, and with India’s family values being near intact as compared to countries in the West, kids in India are in a more secure environment. This also explains why Indian families are able to pay a lot more attention to their children’s studies, health and well-being, and most importantly are able to provide them with lots of love and attention.

Not just children, but even the elderly.

With demographics all over the world changing, with massively declining birthrates across most parts of the world, and a growing number of the elderly, many countries in the developed world, and also in the developing world, are seriously concerned as to who would be able to take care of their rapidly growing elderly population. For example, more than 28% of Japan’s population is over 65 years old whereas in Finland it is nearly 23% (in India, less than 7% of the population is over 65 years of age). Nearly one in two elderly people in Finland live all by themselves. Even if the government is able to build the best amenities for its elderly population, they would not be able to build the companionship that the elderly need, and this is the main cause for them to feel lonely and depressed.

In USA, up to 30% of the almost 60 million older people who live in the community (as opposed to nursing homes and other such institutions), live alone. About half of those who are 85 years or older who live in the community live all by themselves, with three quarters of them being women.

Though even in India, the number of people living in elderly homes or community centres is growing, and there are occasional tensions between members of the household, yet by and large, the inbuilt values and mechanisms built up in Indian society of veneration and respect towards elders mean that an overwhelming majority – around 80% – of elderly widows and widowers live with their children.

Even when both spouses are alive, most elderly prefer to stay with their children, and even though in present day nuclear families, this may lead to various tensions, yet it is a system in which the elderly are not turned away to fence for themselves, and have social and emotional support from their loved ones, including grand-children. In fact, it is not unheard of for 4 generations of the family to live under one roof.

It may be scoffed at by present day modern social scientists who may value individualism above everything else, but family and cultural values and bonding are the strongest points that most elderly value. That’s the reason they are in general happier as compared to richer countries where the elderly may get fancy beds in beautiful buildings with manicured gardens, but rarely get opportunities to interact with their near and dear loved ones.

Civilized Humanitarian values

One way to assess a nation’s civilized conduct is to assess how people behave not just during the good times, but also during moments of crises and emergencies, for example during national calamities. If one looks towards India and the various times it has been hit by the most horrendous and devastating disasters – earthquakes in Uttarakhand, Latur and Kutch; tsunami in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Tamil Nadu; the cyclones and deluge in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Mumbai – one discovers that despite their own tragic situation where so many lives were lost, India’s most vulnerable and desperate did not indulge in looting or riots.

This is in complete contrast with the situation elsewhere. Be it in the economically weaker nations like Haiti or Pakistan, or the wealthier developed nations like Chile, USA or Italy, whenever similar catastrophes have struck, it has led to people breaking into shops, robbery and violent crime.

But for India’s citizens – rich, middle class and poor – humanitarian and civilized values were not forgotten even during the gravest and critical times. Even people without considerable means of their own have tried to contribute in the best possible way. Contributions from civil society in providing relief of all kinds was enormous. The philanthropic spirit of people working at grassroots level giving food and shelter, even the poorest of poor not just organizations, have remained intrinsic to our inherent nature. While small town and village hospitality in India is legendary, even in a place like Mumbai where it was thought that one wasn’t aware of one’s own neighbours, even strangers threw open their homes during the deluge. This shows the hallmark of our humanitarian values

And this civilized behaviour is not just restricted to when the country is affected by natural disasters, but can also be gauged in other situations.

The UN poll talked about belief in a nation’s institutions and leadership that formed a strong point in their judgement of what constituted a nation’s happiness, but that was too technical a term with very few examples given, which may not mean much beyond the realms of intellectuals’ sitting comfortably in their armchairs. But in India’s case, trust and belief of our citizens towards our country’s leadership has been actually witnessed time and again by all.

See for example, how people queued up patiently for hours during demonetization in 2016. Even China had to concede that India’s step of demonetization was so bold that even they may not have able to carry it out without fear of possible repercussions. Similarly, if it had been done in other countries, it may have led to riots. Yet despite a lot of hue and cry from opposition party members, activists and others who attempted to instigate the crowd, most of the people retained faith in their leadership’s good intent, and stood in queues with discipline because they felt it was for the nation’s benefit, even if they personally hadn’t indulged in shady things.

This was also experienced during the Covid pandemic. When a sudden lockdown was announced in March, 2020 in India, unlike many other countries, no one in India came out on the streets and protested. There are no doubts that India’s huge labour force who worked in factories far away from their home states, bore the brunt of the sudden lockdown, with many of them having to walk hundreds, if not thousands of kms back home.

There are no doubts that the situation was extremely brutal to them. Yet most of them accepted that the dramatic COVID situation called for drastic steps and the government couldn’t be faulted as its sole objective was to save lives. Even most of those severely affected credited the government for its foresightedness and overwhelmingly supported the lockdown steps taken by the Modi government. This shows the high level of trust that people placed towards their government and institutions. So also, in other tough situations where the authorities have carried out difficult steps, people have whole heartedly supported the national effort. The nation’s interest and well-being is of great value to people living across the length and breadth of the country.

In fact, tourists from other countries have narrated how ordinary Indians are passionate about their country and culture, “The way Indians speak about their city, their country with so much of love is charming. If there is anything I would like to take back from this exercise is the confidence which Indians exude. Japanese on the other hand are a bit shy and reluctant to talk about their country”, said a Japanese university student visiting India.

Hospitality and interacting with outsiders / foreigners

This feeling of happiness and a sense of contentment has been observed by overseas visitors travelling to India. “Perhaps, the one thing that is going to deeply touch you on your India tour is the warm hospitality of Indians. A ready smile on the face, always willing to go out of the way to help somebody, exuding genuine happiness upon meeting a person – these are some of the common traits you will find in maximum Indians. The Sanskrit adage, “Atithi Devo Bhava,” meaning the guest is truly your god dictates the respect granted to guests in India. So, it’s understandable why the tourists visiting India want to come back again & again” says one site.

A Hungarian tourist who has visited countless countries and runs her own blog writes, “For all the incredible places I visited in India, there’s one thing that remained constant: theincredible friendliness of the Indian people themselves. Welcoming guests is an important part of Indian culture and I met countless locals who couldn’t wait to take a photo with me, ask where I was from, and invite me for masala chai and meals with them. In many Western countries, it’s seen as strange to chat with strangers on the street or public transport but in India, this is commonplace. From buses to cafes, you’ll engage with locals which makes it easy to learn about their culture, lives, and customs”

Even tourists from Japan, another country well known for her friendly people, are impressed by India’s hospitality. According to Ayaka Nishitani,“The way Indians interact and help strangers on the road is something that one will not notice anywhere else. In Japan, we don’t even greet unknown people. The warmth and generosity of Indians is commendable”

It’s not just with international tourists, but even with fellow Indians. This writer has experiences during his many travels in the country when he would be invited to visit houses of locals he had only just met. At the spur of the moment…And of course, long train or bus journeys in the country are never a dull moment with people making friends and even sharing meals even if they had just met a short while ago. Feeling of hospitality is so natural to us

No wonder that a recent Booking.com study reveals that India is among the top five countries in the world where locals consider hospitality to be their innate quality. As per the research, 75 per cent Indians believe that they are more hospitable than many other nations. For Indians, hospitality means ensuring that guests are well fed, which is most important (84%), followed by being cozy (79%) and offering guests their own space (78%). While it is true that Thailand emerges at the very top, but India isn’t far behind. Of course, other countries in Asia and Latin America are also famous for their hospitality and welcoming traditions, but even from this also one can conclude that most of them are not located in what the UN poll declares as the happiest countries in the world.

Many foreigners are also appreciative of the pluralistic nature of Hindu society that is so accepting of other traditions and cultures. Religious tolerance is a much recent phenomenon in the West, but in India the concept is deeply ingrained in our culture. Neither did travelers in the past or today face any problems because of their religion or beliefs. After all, India has a long history of welcoming persecuted people from Parsis to Jews to Bahai’s and others

SPIRITUAL BHARAT – experiencing the real India that is an epitome of genuine and everlasting happiness not just to Indians but all over the world

Since thousands of years, people have been visiting India to study and understand about its rich spiritual philosophy and cultural traditions that form the bedrock of Bharatiya civilization (samskriti). After all, this country is home to the oldest religion – HIndu Dharma, oldest language – Sanskrit and the most unique and amazing creations and achievements of the world, which includes yoga and meditation, Ayurveda, classical music and dance, temple architecture martial arts, wrestling, etc.

The treasures of the Ramayana and Mahabharat, Buddhism and Jainism, and innumerable facets of Bharatiya culture spread to diverse parts of the world; foreigners who visited India in ancient times and studied in her famous universities such as Taxila, Nalanda, etc were able to take back with them our cultural values and disseminate this knowledge in their respective countries. The impact of Indian civilization over the world – direct or subtle – has been deep and profound.

This tradition continues today, with people from all walks of life in the world – from the richest and most powerful – the celebrities, politicians, social media influencers – to students, housewives and the common folk – coming to our nation to learn about the Bhagwad Geeta, yoga and meditation, the fine arts, Sanskrit language and chanting, and fascinated with the multitudes of colors, festivals and round the clock celebration etc.

Their fascination extends to them wearing traditional Indian clothes, especially the saree, arguably considered as the most exquisite and beautiful garment in the word. Two of the “must see” places that captivate and enchant foreigners are the spiritual towns – teerth yatras – of Varanasi and Rishikesh. They are wonderstruck by the temples and ashrams and especially the Ganga aarti. True that Agra sees far more foreigners due to the Taj Mahal being one of the 7 wonders of the world but most of them include it in one of their high-fly trips. Whereas both Rishikesh and Varanasi see more long-term foreign visitors as they are drawn to their rich spiritual traditions and experience blissful happiness. They represent the real India (Bharat).

In fact, many foreigners spend long time in the HImalayas and other spiritual places searching for inner peace and bliss, and have become disciples of the various Gurus and sampradayas,,an age-old tradition which in the modern times really picked up with the iconic Beatles group becoming followers of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and residing in his ashram for 3 weeks in 1968. From that time onwards, Rishikesh’s ashrams became a key centre for foreign visitors studying and exploring Dharmic spirituality, meditation and yoga. Others frequented other cities and towns and became associated with ISKCON, Satya Sai Baba, Art of Living, among others.

Many foreigners formally became Hindu and embraced all the traditions, while others simply adopted some Indic values to their present lifestyle. Either way, they have been positively impacted by their visits to India, as spirituality connected to Vedic traditions has the power to completely transform the individual seeker, bringing a sense of equanimity, tranquility and natural joy, something that they feel can only experience in this harmonious land, and in connection to her sacred traditions. They also become more compassionate and develop a positive outlook on life, qualities that can be appreciated by others when they return to their home countries.

If this is how our civilization has influenced outsiders making them better and happier people, how much more happier and contented would be insiders who grew within the culture and traditions that are an inherent and immanent part of them. The point over here is that other countries may possess more material wealth, but when it comes to spiritual wealth, India that is Bharat is definitely numero uno.

We have presented many factors in this part to declare without any doubts that irrespective of what others may think or claim, the final conclusion is that Indians are among the happiest, IF NOT THE HAPPIEST, people on planet earth.