Happiness, and where to find it

I have this strange bittersweet feeling every time I visit home. I am from Jabalpur, which is a relatively small town, but I have been living in Mumbai for the past 8 years. Mumbai, the city where everyone comes to find happiness but ironically is filled with depressed people.

I know it might sound sadistic, but it is a shock to me to see how happy people are back home. People here might not have a lot of money, the happening nightlife, or all other perks that come with living in a big city like Mumbai. But still, they are happy. They lead fuller lives than most people I know back in the big cities.

Whenever I have stayed back in Mumbai for a festival, the celebration has been along the same lines. Find a pub or a restaurant, which would be both overpriced and overcrowded. Use alcohol and Loud music and dancing to fool yourself into a false sense of security that you are having a good time. And then get right back to the fast and depressing city life. In contrast to this, my family back in Jabalpur would be celebrating at home, with their neighbours eating homemade sweets and snacks.

Thoughts like this always put me in an existential crisis whenever I am visiting home or a relative in a similar small town. Are we looking for happiness in the wrong place?