|
||
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
Astrology
Chat
Cityscape
Classifieds
Entertainment
Health
Matrimonial |
|
  |
'Happy families are all alike: each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way' wrote Tolstoy in his 'Anna Karenina'. 'I've had a happy life', murmured Hazlitt as he breathed his last. Generations of critics have been trying to explain (or explain away) the import of the last words of one who was considered a 'difficult person'. Happiness, as the common man understands it, is a state of mind marked by pleasure, satisfaction, contentment or joy. Everyone has had moments of pleasure, and has often looked like the cat that swallowed the canary. Familiar too is one's feeling, on certain days, of being on top of the world, though one may not be in love or in robust health. The sense of joy or wellbeing is not permanent. Which accounts for the philosopher's lament that there is much to be endured and little to be enjoyed in life. Hazlitt's view of happiness was not that of the philosopher. The Middle English word 'happy' is derived from 'hap', related to the Old Norse 'happ' (good luck). Whether happiness is your portion is a matter of chance. Or is it? Hazlitt's life itself was a repudiation of the traditional view of happiness. A happy family is a contented family. Its members play by the rules; they live and let live. A happy family also refers to a fortunate one. A person of independent means is in the happy (lucky or fortunate) position of not having to work for a living. We speak of a happy turn of phrase in the sense of an apt/appropriate one. Example: The politician's choice of words was not happy (felicitous, well adapted) and drew boos and catcalls from the crowd. A happy-go-lucky attitude to life is a casual or carefree approach to it. 'I shall be happy (pleased) to escort the child to the airport. I shall be happy (I'm willing) to take up the new assignment', 'Happy (cheerful) faces greeted Hari on his first day at college' A person may be unhappy (feel hurt/cut up) if his leave is cancelled and he is asked to report for work. The company's affairs took an unhappy turn and rendered many workers jobless. Hari felt most unhappy (miserable/wretched) when even his trusted colleagues deserted him in his hour of trial. Manoa blames Samson for his unhappy (unsuitable) choice of life partners. 'Unhappiness' conveys all the nuances of discontent/dissatisfaction, displeasure and sorrowfulness. An 'unhappy' hour/time is one marked by infelicity, evil or calamity. The expressions 'money-happy', 'clothes-happy' and 'trigger-happy' are well known. The Collins dictionary has the following gloss on the phrase happy hunting ground: The expression means 'a productive or profitable area for a person with a particular interest or requirement'. According to an American Indian legend, 'happy hunting ground' stands for paradise to which a person passes after death. That brings us to the subject of pain or suffering, which is a part of our life and ends only with death. The word 'suffer' (verb) (13th century) is derived from Middle English 'suffren', from Old French 'souffrir' and from vulgar Latin 'sufferire' (to bear). 'To suffer' is to 'submit to/ or be forced to endure punishment, neglect or humiliation. Example: Blind Samson suffered humiliation at the hands of his enemies and was condemned to hard labour at the mill with the slaves. The verb also conveys the sense - 'to feel keenly'. (The murder accused suffered pangs of remorse and tried to end his life). To suffer also means 'to put up with something as inevitable or unavoidable'. To suffer loss/damage is to incur/experience loss/damage. One may suffer for one's blunders. One suffers from a chronic disease. Your writing suffers from lack of attention to detail. Here is another example: 'The reputation of Robert Southey (1774-1843) has suffered from his association with men of far greater genius than was his, from the mass and unevenness of his work, from his undertaking tasks in poetry beyond his powers, and from the circumstance that he is often judged simply as a poet rather than as a professional man of letters. I shall consider this word in some detail. Readers' response/inputs can be e-mailed to mhdevan@chennaionline.com.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||
