What really makes us happy?

Happy! (Season 1; 2017)

What actually makes us happy? It seems that from time immemorial, we go around looking for that unattainable wish. Happiness, Bliss, Utopia, Eudaimonia, we refer to it with different names. What we actually yearn for a state of mind oblivious to things that happen around us and one that puts us in a state not wondering what tomorrow may bring and whether we will be left out from it. We want to feel, experience, the wonder of our brain immersed in the feel-good chemicals, serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin. The question why this drowning is self-limiting, numbs itself spontaneously with tolerance setting in. We need ever more of the same for the desired effect. We are still in search of true happiness if there is one. In the meantime, we divert our attention to other paths and convince ourselves that that indeed is happiness even though most do not buy it!

We create stories. We tell ourselves that the Law of Nature is just. Somehow happiness is portrayed as a wrong virtue. We should suffer in pain in that therein lies true happiness. Enduring pain (the antithesis of joy) is looked upon as a respected virtue which would be repaid in many folds in another realm. The mortals are left confused, scratching their heads wondering which part to follow. Like Sisyphus, we are told to find happiness within the gruelling continual rolling of the boulder uphill which repeatedly rolls back when we thought the peak is reached and our job is over. In that mad cycle of torture and disappointment, we are expected to find peace.

We threaten our kinds that happiness is indeed not to be experienced here on Earth but in the afterlife. Is it just a pacifier to thumb people down to submission and subjugation.

A simplistic formula to happiness. We try to
convince ourselves that indeed it is. Deep
inside we know but, with the dearth of any
other suggestions, we persevere.
We call this cognitive dissonance.

'Happy!' is anything but a happy story. It tells of a 'down-and-out' disgraced cop who is now a hitman. He is a walking zombie after suffering a massive heart attack. He sees an apparition of a talking blue unicorn who tells him of his child (which the cop is unaware) who has been kidnapped. The cartoonish looking flying unicorn is his daughter's imaginary friend who appears in his consciousness. Together they have to tract the site she is kidnapped against the mob who is out for his blood and the deranged man who is up to something no good with the children he has kidnapped. Then there are the kidnapped girl's mother and the cop's ex-partner who are all engrossed in their sorrows.

The cop finds happiness in intoxicants; the mother finds it in her child; the madman in the weird things he does; the mob in exerting authority; the ex-cop's partner and caring for her mother; the mother with her anti-depressive medications and the mob's family find solace in reality TV. The miniseries indeed show a rather weird world that we live in.

The problem with looking for happiness is that it is not a finite destination. The goal post always keeps shifting. We work hard towards a goal thinking that by achieving it, we will be happy. Unfortunately, when our desire is reached, we find no happiness. Conversely, we find a higher bar to reach and the vicious cycle continues.

Maybe we are looking for contentment in all the wrong places. This seemingly attainable feat may just lie within us but in the outside. Like Saint Nicholas who find joy in giving presents at Christmas, we should do the same. Incidentally, this season is set around the Yuletide with the message of giving screaming all over the set. And whats more, the main character's name is Nick Sachs! Christopher Leoni of 'Law and Order: SVU' fame stars.

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Bohemian Rhapsody | Official Trailer [HD] | 20th Century FOX

Animals with ambitions?

Tweet (2016)
Isa Kamari

We, human beings, like to think that we are unique; that everything that happens around us revolves for us and is about us. Maybe, just maybe, animals just like us, do indeed have a consciousness to aspire things in life. They, like us, have hierarchy and order in life. On top that that, they may want to have big dreams and long to be in an imagined place of bliss.

'Tweet' is a thin book which looks sarcastically at the goings-on at a bird park in Singapore. Concurrently, the story tells the conversation between a grandfather and grandson as well a purported communication among and between species of birds in the park.

At face value, the man-boy conversation may seem simple, it is laced with symbolism and philosophy of life. The birds too feel trapped in an environment so alien to their natural habitat. Even though the park promises to be right and fair to its inmates, the whole idea is just to create an aesthetically pleasing surrounding filling it up with pretty birds. Colourful birds are feted while man-defined 'ugly' and plain birds like the crows are shot down. Even though Nature has everything, the good, bad and ugly, people only want to see the watered-down version, minus warts and all; delightful to our visual gratification. 

It is not that Man is doing a service to our avian friends. They have to sing for their supper, do stunts and things beyond what an average bird ever need to do in its lifetime. They say birds are free to fly in the park but why the enclosure. Do birds get emotional pressures that make them think that life is not worth living? Do birds actually think of paradise and harbours hopes of their Maker extraordinaire, like Simuk, in this story? 

An enjoyable and fresh story that makes one think.

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Real Lessons in Reel Life Reviewed

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As I lay me down to sleep...

 The Persistence of Memory, 1931.
Salvador Dali

I thought I had found the best way to rejuvenate myself after immersing myself deep into my studies during those long days of uncertainty before the public examinations. I would engage in short slumber breaks. Just as I would feel slowly being dragged into sleep, I would suddenly smack myself awake. I would curse myself for sleeping too long only to realise that I had hardly slept. I would, however, be feeling quite fresh by then and would abandon my plans to snooze. These short power naps were a game changer. They managed to fuel me to sail through all those trying times.

I later came to learn is that that state was known as the hypnagogic state of sleep as we transit between wakefulness to sleep. And it was a normal phase of sleeping. 

Then one day, a friend who in his own mind thinks he is an interpreter of dreams ala-Freud, tried to analyse that sensation that I felt as the mind's indicator that it is in a constant state of fear; afraid of being left behind and dropping out in the race of life. Metaphorically, the mind screams of me of being an over-achiever, living in a constant fear of losing out! But then, it is no dream at all. I have not reached REM sleep yet.

Now, researchers are saying that the hypnagogic state is a time of creativity and possibly a time of problem-solving. Painter Salvador Dali used to use sleep holding keys so that it would drop as he was in hypnagogia to paint his creations. Thomas Edison held ball-bearing to that same effect.

Throughout history, people have had said to have undergone multiple experiences, hallucinations, premonitions and even prophesies during this phenomena. Scientists have described hypnagogia as involving a ‘loosening of ego boundaries', openness, sensitivity, ‘ heightened suggestibility, and a ‘fluid association of ideas'. The 'Dreamcatcher' project is aimed at tapping its full potential.

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Two sides of the coin?

The Ramayana

R.K. Narayan (1972)

We all know the story of the Ramayana. The original epic poem contained 24,000 verses and 500 chapters, written by Valmiki in 4 BCE. It has many versions as it had been translated into many Indian languages and non-Indian languages. As the Hindu influence spread over the archipelago, Ramayana had been narrated in Thailand, Malaya. Indonesia and Burma. The version that was written by the Tamil poet, Kamban, is said to give plenty of weightage to Ravana's courts' proceedings and Sita's predicaments after the well-fought war against Lanka. 

The discourse that went on among the Asura brothers on the days before the Northerners' attack is worthy of mention. It tells us a lot of how civil servants or any member of an organisation would (‽ or should) react in a case of a moral dilemma. When Raavan summoned his brothers to help him out against attack from Rama's Army and his band of monkeys, each of them responded differently. 

Vibishana, the honourable one, totally disagreed on Raavan's action of kidnapping somebody's wife against all her cries and pleas and justifying his misdeeds as a tit-for-tat against violence against their sister. He did not want to condone any of his actions. Hence, he fled the scene and did not want anything to do with the defence of Lanka. But, he went on to volunteer information to the enemy which eventually caused Raavan's downfall. Is that right? It could a subject of protracted discussion.

Then, there was Kumbakarna, another brother who also did not approve of Raavan's kidnapping of a respectable woman. Because of the brother's previous help to him and the fact that 'blood is thicker than water', Kumbakarna decided to stay back and fight for his brother. To him, the familial bond was more important than judging the merit of Raavan's misdeeds.

On the other hand, Kuberan the sloth was oblivious to everything that was going on. He was in a deep slumber as he always was when all these was going on. Only when he was provoked at the climax when everything was going on, he charged headlong. By then it had a little bit too late. Does that not remind you of many around us who seem aloof of their surroundings. Only when things go pear-shaped, and things hit the fan, do they suddenly peel open their eyes to see.

Sita's Fire Ordeal
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If you think Ramayana is all about the stoic Rama and his stance of facing all adversities like a good son and a good ruler, you are wrong. Sita had her fair chance of misfortunes. She thought she was getting married to be a queen, but turns of events eventually made her end up dressed in bark parchment to undergo exile in the forest for 14 years. As if that was not enough, Sita had to be kidnapped. Despite being faithful to the vows she made to the celestial bodies during the wedding, her chastity was suspected. Of all persons, it had to be Rama. She saw the change in him after the release from Lanka. Rama did all the search and fight not for love and affection but as a duty. Anyway, that is what is expected of a king-in-exile when his consort is abducted. And of all things, Sita had to prove her innocence via a fire ritual. For Rama, the people's perception was more important. Is this the Dharma that he talks about? Things were never the same after that. Her later self-imposed exile is a testimony of that.

People spent a lifetime trying to read and re-read the Ramayana to understand the wisdom imbibed in its poem. Narayan condenses the whole epic into a small, readable edition for the general public to peruse in any way they want; as a story, a philosophical discourse or a holy book.

Man-made laws to make the numbers!

Ju Dou (Chinese; 1990)

Just as much as societal norms set the order in a society, they can also be the cause of discontent and chaos. Believe it or not, this is very much like religion. On the one hand, it tries to create a milieu of harmony where all individuals, rich or poor, stronger or weak has a place in the sun. Conversely, to try to enact 'God's Law' on Earth, we see people die, and countries go to wars towards this end. 

This classic multiple award-winning Chinese film tells of a tale which is set in a secluded village at the turn of the 19th century. Tianqing is adopted by a wealthy but miserly owner of a fabric dyeing factory. He is forced to work ruthlessly, almost like a slave. The elderly owner, Yang, after a spate of dead spouses, is now married to a young bride. Yang is abusive towards his young wife, perpetuated by his impotence and inability to secure an heir.

Tianqing takes pity on the bride, Ju Duo. The feelings develop into a romance, and an illicit affair develops. Ju Duo becomes pregnant with the intimacy, much to the joy of Yang, thinking that it is of his own. A boy is born.

After a fall, Yang becomes a paraplegic. The couple now feels justified to openly flaunt their romance after the things they had endured under his thumb. The boy grows up, realising of his mother's infidelity, develops an aversion against his biological father. At the climax, there is a duel between the teenage son and Tianqing that ends with a disastrous outcome.  

Laws are enacted to ensure order. Should rules be so rigid that exceptions cannot be made? When a person is wronged, and the situation is so helpless, can the law be bent on compassionated grounds? 

We are so loyal to our kith and kin that we fail to realise that they too are not immune to wrongdoings. Almost by reflex, we tend to be blinded of their injustices. Humans are social animals. We are strong by numbers. We feel vulnerable and need the validation of our deeds. We feel secure in a herd.

This story highlights how man-made regulations, like social mores, overpower the biological natural inclination to protect one of his own kind.

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