Each year, when the World Happiness Report appears, India asks: Why do we rank so low? In 2025, we sat at 118, a figure that rightly stings national pride. But the sting can be useful if we ask the right question. Not “How do we look happier?” but “What actually makes a life go well?”
For more than two millennia, philosophers have answered that question better than our dashboards do. Aristotle’s idea of eudaimonia —human flourishing — didn’t mean perpetual cheerfulness; it meant living a life of virtue, purpose and growth. The Stoics spoke of ataraxia, a tranquil mind that isn’t yanked around by every turn of fortune.
Modern psychology and neuroscience echo them. We know the hedonic treadmill is real: After a burst of pleasure — or a bump in income — our feelings slide back to baseline. We also know that relationships, meaningful work, and service are the durable engines of well-being. Meanwhile, brain systems that process reward and regulate attention shape our moods more than any single windfall ever can. None of this denies the importance of income or jobs; it simply reminds us that money is necessary but not sufficient.
India’s policy conversation often treats happiness as a byproduct of GDP plus infrastructure. That model lifts people from poverty and must continue. But once basics are secured, well-being plateaus unless we intentionally invest in the social and psychological architecture of a good life. The result is a paradox we already see: Busy cities, longer commutes, rising digital addiction — and a nagging sense that life is slipping through our fingers.
What would a smarter happiness agenda look like?
First, measure what matters. States track power, roads, and enrolment; few track loneliness, community participation, or access to mental healthcare with the same seriousness. Adding social connectedness and mental-health access to state dashboards would signal priorities and guide budgets.
Second, treat relationships as infrastructure. We should back public spaces and programmes that connect people — lively libraries, parks with programming, intergenerational clubs, cultural centres that are welcoming. Think of these as “bonding capital” projects.
Third, reframe education. Schools do a heroic job on content. But life skills — attention, emotional regulation, teamwork — are not luxuries. They are protective factors against anxiety and despair. A modest investment in counsellors and evidence-based socio-emotional learning pays off across a lifetime.
Fourth, make work humane. Productivity matters; burnout kills it. Encourage firms to pilot sane scheduling, right-to-disconnect norms, and manager training that treats well-being as a metric, not a mood. Employees who feel respected perform better and stick around.
Fifth, get serious about digital hygiene: Screen-free meal times, device-light classrooms, and public campaigns that make sleep and attention cool again. The goal isn’t Luddism; it’s a reclaiming of the very cognitive bandwidth that happiness requires.
Notice what ties these together: Meaning and belonging. Epicurus reminded us that friendship and moderation, not excess, are the surest pleasures. Even utilitarian thinking makes little sense if we ignore the human goods that endure: Love, gratitude, and purpose.
There’s also a cultural point. India’s traditions never equated joy with mere indulgence. Sukha in Hindu thought speaks of deeper ease; Buddhist insights aim at freedom from grasping. These aren’t calls to withdraw from the world, but to engage it wisely. When we reduce happiness to selfie-smiles, we betray our own civilisational memory.
A country that values family must design cities that let families see each other; a nation that praises education must teach children how to pay attention; a polity that speaks of seva must make it easy to serve — through volunteering portals, local mentorship, and civic projects that welcome ordinary citizens.
India can rise in the rankings. But that will be the side effect. The aim is older and wiser: To live well. As Immanuel Kant reportedly put it, the rules of happiness include something to do, someone to love, and something to hope for. If our policies and our personal choices bend toward those three, the smiles will take care of themselves.
The writer is a retired psychiatrist
