The Happiest Man In The World
A rich zamindar had a beautiful wife, bright children and everything that money could buy; yet, he was not happy. He asked all the wise men he knew if they could tell him how to become happy.
“Gaze at the beautiful moon and the millions of stars twinkling in the night sky,” said one wise man. “Looking at them will surely make you happy.”
The zamindar did not think it would. “On the contrary, looking at them will only make me angry because I know, with all my wealth, I can never make them mine.”
“Why don’t you listen to music all day?” suggested another wise man. “Music makes everyone happy.” The zamindar found the idea most preposterous.
“There must be some other way,” he sighed. One evening, while the masseur was giving him his usual body massage, he noticed that the zamindar was unusually silent.
“What’s the matter, Sahib?” he asked. “Is something bothering you?”
“I still haven’t found a way to be happy,” replied the zamindar.
“I know what you can do to be happy,” said the masseur.
“What?” asked the zamindar.
“You need to find a happy man and then exchange your shirt with his. By putting on his shirt, you will become just as happy as him,” said the masseuse.
The zamindar liked the idea. He sent his servants to look for a happy man. The servants searched high and low, and finally came upon a tiny hamlet in a remote area in the mountains. They asked the people living there if they knew of a happy man.
“We are all happy here,” said a villager, “but in that hut over there lives the happiest man among us all.”
The servants found the happiest man, whistling merrily as he went about his work. The zamindar was ecstatic when the servants told him that they had brought the happiest man home. But when he looked at the man, his jaw dropped. The happy man wore no shirt.
