efore comparing the state of happiness of modern man with that of his ancestors, it will be better to fix criteria for happiness and the absence of happiness. If we leave aside the sense of eternal bliss experienced by a mystic in communion with God or a sense of self-fulfillment and exaltation experienced by the artist in the process of creation of a work of art, there would be hardly any dispute that happiness consists in activities which make men satisfied and at peace with themselves and with the world around them.
Such activities would be sharing and celebrating good news and events like a good harvest, birth of a child, a marriage or a victory in a game. It is well known fact that happiness increases bysharing. There is no doubt that our forefathers were able to get more happinessbysharing theirhappiness with their kith and kin. Most communities in the worldstill preserve some memories of the dance and festivities they used to have at the time ofharvesting their crop. Punjabi bhangra dance with its hilarity and abandon suggests howexcited and happy our forefathers must have been for days together while celebrating
achievement of community in th form of a bumper harvest. With very inadequate and primitive facilities for selling and storing of food products,
people used to indulge in feasts of catering and drinking, entertaining even strangers with sumptuous meals. Sports practiced by our forefathers were mostly community sports where the accent was more on group cooperation. Rowing, Tug Of war, Kabaddi are some instances. Participating teams consisted of youth from different villages or tribes and great excitement and revelry accompanied these tournaments.
Family life of our forefathers was more cohesive and happy. In time of stress one could get emotional support not only from one's mother or father but also from a grand-parent or an uncle or a cousin. Joint family was a source of rich emotional sustenance and economic security. Nucleus family or single parent or single child family of today is virtually emotionally starved in comparison to the emotional well- being of families of our forefathers. One could always depend for help on one's
