International Day of Happiness

20th March is the Yearly International Day of Happiness. What is the International Day of Happiness? It’s a day to be happy, of course! Since 2013, the United Nations has celebrated the International Day of Happiness as a way to recognise the importance of happiness in the lives of people around the world. So, how do you get happy? By resolving to be happy or learning to be happy? Probably both…. and that is a very important understanding, rarely discussed in MBA curriculas. The cartoon below is telling

Most management students (this blogger included) join the management schools to grow rich, prosperous and be happy. But at placement time, especially in the current business situation, we see a lot of unhappiness with the placements. Can this be remedied?

Most colleges try and better the previous year placement records in a bid to remedy this.

But, that’s just one part of the solution. What about teaching students to understand that happiness can be controlled by them. Can we help them make better choices in placement and working life by teaching them how to look inwards and find sources of enduring happiness such as gazing at the sky and feeling grateful for the wonderful day everyday, the perfect health they enjoy- sources totally disconnected from friends, family issues, placements etc . Our rich cultural teachings focusing on the inner happiness are always at hand. Would that prepare them for the inevitable wins and losses, hires and fires, tradeoffs between great job with poor personal life vs “Ok” job with more satisfaction and better work life balance. Delhi schools are already planning on introducing Happiness curriculum. Is it time that MBA curricula too incorporate this?

-by Prof. Nilesh Deshpande