Matter of Happiness

Traveling into depths of my solitude, I realize value of happiness Sometimes wonder how valuable happiness in our lives is Is it ultimate reality of life which is hidden from all of us? Am I happy, are we all happy? I begin a search for an answer In society, among friends, among strangers, everywhere. When I come out of the self, I gather that I am not alone in this wanderlust, each one is searching Though each one has a different perspective or circumstance Yet the target, of everyone’s journey, strangely, is same To achieve ‘happiness’ of some kind at the end of each journey. I feel a strange calmness in me, at this realisation So much so that I do not find anybody a stranger anymore All seem to be fellow travellers, trying to reach at same target Each in his own way, in one’s own context, in one’s place Yet this calmness evaporates fast when I see that unhappiness persists. Is our happiness transient and our wanderlust permanent? Date: 11.8.2014 Mohan Chutani Contest: Wanderlust Form: Free verse (16 lines) Now submitted for PDA's free verse contest on 17.10.2020