Mr. Murmu,the 80-year old Tribal Teacher who had discovered Happiness(and made me find it too!)

Location: Sahibganj, Jharkhand, India.

My travels across the eastern part of India took me to Sahibganj, a small town on the banks of the Ganga river and surrounded by the beautiful Rajmahal hills. I was no stranger to this place since many of my childhood vacations had been spent here(my grandparents had spent their entire life here).

After meeting and exchanging the usual pleasantries with my relatives, I had planned to meet Mr. Murmu, an 80-year old teacher who used to teach a group of children from the Santhal tribe. Since my train had reached late, I knew that I could not see him in action(I had heard about his exaggerated hand gestures while teaching from his good friend i.e.my late grandfather :P). Nevertheless, since I was there for only a day I went ahead to meet him at his residence.

A friendly and joyous man, we started talking about children, learning, and today’s education. I was all ears about what he had to say and scribbled down all the wisdom I could absorb in my diary as soon as I came back. Here is an excerpt from my diary that night:

*START*

Happiness has to be one of the most overused and probably abused words of our times. People tend to use it without any thought as to the real meaning it. Happiness can be as simple as getting two square meals a day, getting a luxury car, seeing smiles on the faces of your loved ones, going on a trip with friends, having someone who loves you, starting a family, sleeping till late. The list is unending…….

Every time we achieve anything that would make us happy, the goalposts shift immediately. It’s something else that would make us happy now. And us humans, true to our nature, start chasing it from that day. The cycle continues till we breathe and we never truly appreciate what happiness is. We never feel it completely, never let the feeling stay with us and thus, lose an opportunity to apply brakes and relax.

Most of those goals or targets we think would make us happy, make us more miserable, and put us under the pressure of achieving the next one. And, we keep running towards it, sometimes unsure if it is something we really want or it is something to be worn as a badge in our society.

Somebody thinks a good job with a decent salary will make him happy. He works towards it and achieves that goal. Immediately he realizes that his happiness now lies in getting his own house and a car. Once that comes to him, his happiness manifests itself in getting married and starting a family……….and it goes on and on. All the while that person is slogging for hours in the office, returning frustrated at the end of the day. His only solace is the drink that makes him sleep on the weekends.

The true meaning of Happiness for Mr.Murmu was freedom. It was the power of making his own decisions and following them through without any pressure. Happiness to him was not any of the things listed above. It was listening to what his heart yearned for, what your mind craved for. For Mr.Murmu, it was teaching young kids the most important lesson in their lives.

It can be simple, complex, or unthinkable but that voice inside your heart is what will make you truly happy. And once you get that happiness, you must enjoy it, cherish it and bask in the glory of what you have achieved.

That, I tell you is the secret to dying without regrets. *END*

While taking his leave, I did ask him if I could take a picture of him and write about him if and when the opportunity presented itself. He laughed and said,” Beta, I don’t want people to know me. I don’t want people to come and find me. I am happy and content here. If you write something, make it about staying happy and not about me. “

Respecting his wishes, I have not put his photo/full name here.