The lyricist of Lighthouse Family observed, Its always the same, at the end of the day. You always want, what you havent got.

Sunday Mid-Day meets up with a bunch of celebrities and everyday folk and discovers that people want an impressive variety of things (material or intangible) that they think will complete their happiness.

There are also those who claim to have already found happiness (at least within their self-defined parameters). Unfailingly, however, the question of happiness sparks off much musing, as it eternally will in the Hallways of always.

Okay, so a few of us have figured out the contentment conundrum. But happiness remains, possibly, the prime preoccupation for most of humanity. Whether it is a have-it-all film star or your average Joe, most of us yearn for that elusive X that we think will lead us down earthly Elysian fields.

Hunky John Abraham has a full tank of blessings a happening acting career and a hot girlfriend and he now thinks the fount of his happiness is within reach if he could only grow wings on his hands and fly like Icarus. He yearns to take a break from work and travel all over the world.

The Dhoom star says, I have the wanderlust and it would make me happy to just take my motor bike and travel. I would love to write all about my travelling tales a Motorcyclist Diary perhaps. I want to see every part on this globe before I die from the Antarctic pole to the Arctic pole. It would be great to go to space too.

John finds happiness in vitalising the spirit and is convinced that at the moment, most of us are not living; we are only existing.

If there is one person who is living and not just existing, it is Urmila Matondkar. Or else she wouldnt have the confidence to say, My cup of joy is pretty much full right now.

Urmila subscribes to the New Age theory that one must live in the moment to be happy but, scratching the surface, one discovers that her happiness lies in the future.

She says, I would be ecstatic if a great guy came into my life to complete the happy picture. Unlike Urmila, housewife Shobana Mehtas happiness is totally independent of a career. What would make her happy is to fly down to Mumbai right now and meet her sister, niece and brother-in-law.

She says, They dote on my three-year-old daughter, Trisha, just like I do on their teenage daughter, Nikita. It delights me to see their faces light up when we meet. In fact, Trisha has even contemplated riding to Mumbai (from Dehradun) on her baby scooter.

Family ties can also be seen as binds. Veteran film writer Suraj Sanim (Main Tulsi Tere Angaan Ki) states, without any desire to shock, that family affection does not contribute to his happiness at all. He says, Happiness is a moment from the past, remembered.

Today, nothing makes Suraj happier than reading an interesting new book. Currently, he is immersed in The Hunt For Bin Laden by Robin Moore.

While Suraj seeks contentment in books, crooner Sonu Nigam derives pleasure from following the calling of his life singing. Having achieved that, Sonu doesnt find it necessary to follow the video-game mentality and move on to the next level of materialism.

He says, After doing yoga, I have realised that my source of happiness lies within me, not outside. For some people, happiness is in minimising their needs, for others it lies in fulfilling their desires. I was once obsessed with the latest cars but now I have outgrown that too. I no longer get upset if things dont happen my way. I can (and do) make myself happy.

But for Pooja, a 20-year old commerce student, the joys of life are out there in Big Bazaar, waiting to be picked from designer stores with the power of plastic. She has neither the time nor the inclination to look inwards perhaps because age hasnt jaded her tastes yet.

An unlimited credit card, she is convinced, would give her unlimited happiness. She would love to shop till she drops. She wistfully adds: If only I could be the woman with the most attractive figure in the world today.

Model Upen Patel may have that enviable, gym-honed physique, but he too finds himself wanting more. He says, after some pondering, What would make me happy is a question I ask myself every day of my life. I think, like everyone else, I sometimes confuse happiness with having money and try to substitute what I lack in life with things money can buy, says Upen, who has recently acquired a Hayabusa 1300 cc bike, a Polaris buggy and a new house.

When ones thirst for emotional and professional security is quenched, a new craving takes over. Fashion photographer Vicky Idnani has a happy family background. But he wants to see the wild side of himself. I want to do things that my peers did at the age of 18, says the bachelor.

Vicky feels that a stimulating conversation and a great interactive model could buoy his spirits today. On being asked if he chases happiness, he says that while he has taken a proactive role in making happiness happen to him, the best things in his life have always fallen into his lap.

Forget it. Not even a laptop has fallen into my lap, says college-going Dion Damania, who works summer jobs to supplement his pocket money. He is convinced that one has to make happiness happen. Dion sees money as the cure for all ailments, emotional and physical.

Reluctantly, he amends it to, Maybe not all, but most problems. He artlessly argues, If you have the money, you can even buy your own gym equipment and maintain your health.

Munmun Ghosh, an analytical writer, says, What would make me happy today? If I could create a work of art that would be of lasting value to society.

Aware of the fact that what makes us happy is a variable factor that changes with time, Munmun explains happiness as the ability to immerse oneself totally in a project or a relationship. If I can lose myself completely to the degree that my ego dissolves and the I no longer exists, I would be elated, she reasons.

Empathising with college-going youngsters like Dion and Pooja, she adds, It is the folly of youth that makes them believe that money is the panacea for all problems. Upen supports Munmuns belief.

He says, Today, my dad is content in life because he has been blessed with good health and immense knowledge two things money cant buy. But, as Samuel Johnson wisely observed, intellectual improvement arises from leisure. And money buys you the privilege of leisure.

65-year-old Sudha Udeshi is a living testimony to this belief. Secure in the knowledge that her day-to-day needs are taken care of by the years of hard work she has put in, this retired professor now has the privilege of being able to evolve, spiritually. She sagaciously observes, Because we are alive, we owe it to life to be happy. Ms Udeshi sees a difference between sukh (happiness) and anand (bliss).

Happiness is dependent on the satiation of the senses. It can be found in a sumptuous meal, an expensive outfit and other material comforts. But bliss is related to the soul and intellect. You experience bliss when you watch a flower bloom, the sun set, or hear a piece of soothing music, she enthuses. She describes happiness as transient and bliss as everlasting.

Udeshi says that she has acquired bliss. She adds, I have got my ticket punched and am waiting at the platform for the train to reach me to the final destination. I am unafraid of death, it is just another aspect of life.

But one doesnt have to be on the path of self-realisation, akin to Udeshi, to recognise that happiness need not be premised on major achievements or high salaries. Most of the interviewees recognised the fact that it lies in small things, most of which come free and appear repeatedly.

Upens happiness lies in appreciation (Im happy when I receive 10 messages for my latest music video); Vicky is on cloud nine when he hears an Asha Bhosle-R D Burman number on the FM; while Dion gets unalloyed joy from doing things unconditionally for his family, and his closest buddies.

In the course of these dissertations on happiness, the mention of God came up quite often. 22-year-old Dion wishes for a just God who would fulfill his dreams. Vicky is convinced that its God who showers us with unexpected sources of happiness.

Munmun, on the other hand says, God is life in its entirety. I imagine life as a river and I always trust that the river knows where it is taking each one of us. So I surrender to its flow.

Udeshi is amused that people expect God to fulfill their wishes and believes that God didnt create man; rather that man created God in his image. She says, We are responsible for our own happiness. Everybody cant be happy; but you can definitely make yourself happy.

John Abraham
Actor
1 Health
2 Sex
3 Family Ties
4 Career
5 Money

Pic: Rakesh Shrestha

Upen Patel
Supermodel
1 Family Ties
2 Sex
3 Career
4 Good Health
5 Money



Urmila Matondkar
Actress
1. Health
2. Career
3. Family Ties
4. Sex
5. Money

Dion Damania
Student
1. Family Ties
2. Career
3. Money
4. Health
5. Sex

Sonu Nigam
Playback singer
1. Career
2. Health
3. Sex
4. Family Ties
5. Money

Vicky Idnani
Glamour photographer
1. Career
2. Health
3. Family Ties
4. Money
5. Sex

Sudha Udeshi (65)
Retired professor
1. Family Ties
2. Health
3. Career
4. Sex
5. Money

Suraj Sanim
Scriptwriter
1. Career
2. Health
3. Money
4. Sex
5. Family Ties

Shobhana Mehta
Housewife
1. Health
2. Family Ties
3. Career
4. Money
5. Sex

Munmun Ghosh
Analytic writer
1. Family Ties
2. Health
3. Sex
4. Career
5. Money

(first three are interchangeable)