How much money do you need to be happy?

Recently, everyone celebrated the International Day of Happiness. On the sixth year of the United Nations celebrating the importance of happiness, let’s find out the cost of it. In other words, how much money do you need to be happy? Calculates Sounak Mukhopadhyay

“Become a philosopher after you make a lot of money in life.” This comes from one Bollywood thinker you may have heard of: Shah Rukh Khan. He is not the only person who finds money at the core of the idea of happiness. You’ll find numerous people around you who have the conviction that money is directly responsible for happiness.

However, there is another section of the world population that is convinced that happiness has nothing to do with the amount of money you earn. It depends on your inner peace of mind.

When every country in the world was trying to measure its success by its GDP, it was Bhutan who started GNH, Gross National Happiness. It was way back in 1971 when the tiny Asian country refused to measure its progress by its GDP. Instead, it measures environmental, social, spiritual and physical health of its people.

It’s a society that runs on money

Amit Bej, who is into sales, believes money can’t really buy happiness, but it is a way to find happiness. “If I don’t get what I want, I won’t be happy. And, money helps me buy that thing which makes me happy,” Bej says. “Some people may be satisfied with what they have, but we need more money if we need more from life.”

Dhritiman Pal agrees with Bej, as he believes human beings are heavily based on the financial structure of the social order. “There may be a handful of ‘differently abled’ people who can break the cycle and find happiness in something metaphysical. But, most of us are material people who must be financially secure to be happy,” the English teacher believes and adds, “The more responsibilities you have in life, the more you have to be dependent on money. When there are people who are banking on you, you have to go out every day and work hard to earn money.”

Himanshu Das is pretty straightforward about it. He believes people who don’t have enough money are not happy in their life, no matter what they pretend to be. The tech lead at an IT company thinks everything depends on your bank balance. “Even though more money does not necessarily make you happier, you need enough to cover the basics,” Das says. “You won’t be happy if you can’t afford a nice gift to your dear ones or are unable to go for that weekend trip.”

“You’ll be constantly under stress. How can that make you happy?”

Pranav Sisodia, who is into marketing, gets even more direct and says that it’s a crime if you are poor in this world. “For a country like India, healthcare is expensive. Everyone falls sick, and you need money to get decent medical facilities,” Sisodia says. “You cannot hire a good lawyer if you don’t have enough money. So, even legal justice depends on money. Let’s not romanticise poverty. When you don’t have enough money, you have many more problems to deal with. The struggle to find happiness is a lot harder.”

Is it that simple?

So, is it that simple to conclude that the more money you have, the more like you are to be happy? Maybe not.

Filmmaker Hemant Gaba understands that making films, which is a reason for his happiness, needs a lot of money. However, it’d be an oversimplification if we come to the conclusion that he gets happy when he manages to accumulate enough funds for his films. “Like every other filmmaker, I too want to make at least 100 films. I know that’s unlikely because I may not live that long to make it happen. That’s why I want to make as many movies as I want to,” Gaba says. “I don’t become particularly happy when I get the money to make my next movie. But, I’m not unhappy either. I’m already ready with my next idea. What makes me happy is the process of filmmaking and the experience associated with it. That’s enriching for me, both as a filmmaker and as an individual.”

Do we care about happiness?

Our idea of a better life is based on the things that are material in nature: A lovely house, a luxurious car and a vacation abroad. Do we really have the time to think if we are really happy?

Businessman Ravi Jain believes a very small part of one’s life consists of happiness. The lion’s share of life is about bare essentials, living standards and social obligations. Not many of us stop and contemplate if we are truly happy or not. We are busy in building our social image. “People presume that rich people are happy. But, I know many billionaires who are not happy because they have issues with their family or children,” Jain says. “Relationships in life depend on love and trust, no matter if you’re rich or not. Money helps you establish the social image. It can be the reason for many things, but happiness is not among those.”

Dipika Rao, who heads an international school in Bengaluru, strongly believes that the basic human instinct is to find happiness. For her, happiness is a state of mind that can only be achieved when you are able to find a balance in your life. “Money can get you a lot of material things that might make you temporarily happy. But, that’s the thing about material pleasure,” Rao says. “The thing that made you happy can always be replaced with a better version of it. But, if you’re seeking true happiness, you must find it inside.”

“Your happiness does not lie in the beautiful picture taken on an expensive mobile phone. It rather lies in the memories associated with that picture.”

Maybe money is like the oxygen we breathe in. Oxygen does not necessarily make us happy. We need to find reasons that make us happy. But, we still need to breathe in, don’t we?