The white man met the brown man. They roamed the beautiful country together, held hands and ran to the edge of the world where sparrows sung songs and animals roamed in the wild. The brown man was happy but he knew not why. He said, "I'm so happy to show you my life. You bring me joy."
The white man looked pleased but not surprised. "I come from the land of abundance and I know the secret to happiness", he said and offered to increase the brown man's happiness in return for his hospitality and love.
Together they started on a mission to find the source of happiness and increase it.
But, as they started, the white man said, "You surely cannot be happier if you are brown. I don't know anyone who is so brown and still happy." In came some wonder drugs to help make the brown less brown and they journeyed along.
The brown man, now a little less brown, had no clothes. The white man gave him a fine silk shirt and he smiled graciously and wore it with pride. Each time the silk clad brown man would sit on the ground, his clothes would become dirty. He needed chairs and table, the white man postulated profoundly. So, they hacked down few mulberry trees and, with the expertise of the white man and his knowledge about carpentry they made beautiful tables and chairs. The last fruit from the mulberry trees were eaten sitting on the new chairs. They had never tasted better, the furniture was magical.
The sparrows were weird things the white man told the brown one, "Why would they not visit us now when we have all the comfort and riches!"
Undeterred by the weird sparrows' disappearance, the white man continued fearlessly to find more happiness for his brown friend. He met several happy people from around the world, carefully changed every piece of the brown man's life to bring him more happiness but, none of his efforts bore any fruit. The brown man was just one of those hard nuts to crack! The white man tirelessly made meaningful changes to the brown man's life but nothing seemed to work. The brown man just didn't want to give way to happiness.
After several attempts to change the brown man's life and make him a happy person like everyone else he knew, the white man started to get weary. The brown man's unhappy state was starting to get to him. The brown man's failure to become happy started eating into the white man's own happiness and he felt agitated.
"Why can't you just work harder towards the goal of happiness like everyone else?", he asked the brown man.
The brown man had no answer. He was sorry for letting his white friend down. More than anything else, he felt responsible for dragging his white friend into the well of unhappiness that he was in. He promised to try harder to be happy and do whatever it takes. Together they formulated a plan. A schedule was devised for the brown man to follow religiously every day till he becomes happy. Heavy sanctions were put in place - "No having fun till happiness is achieved", one of the rules said. The brown man knew how important happiness was so he carried out all the instructions. Once in a while a sparrow would come to their yard and they would drive it away realising very well how important the task at hand was and absolutely nothing should be allowed to distract them from getting to happiness.
After weeks of trying his best, the wise white man started to see the truth in the situation. "This brown man would never be happy!", he proclaimed. He went to his friends and told them how all his nobel efforts to bring happiness to the brown man's life have gone in vain. His friends sympathised with his condition and suggested he invest his energy and time in something more meaningful.
Before he left forever, the white man looked at the old, spiritless face of the brown man, looked around at the desolate yard that he lived at and said to himself, "How did I ever think I could turn the fortunes around for a man like this who choses to be unhappy"
They hugged each other and parted ways.
The white man looked pleased but not surprised. "I come from the land of abundance and I know the secret to happiness", he said and offered to increase the brown man's happiness in return for his hospitality and love.
Together they started on a mission to find the source of happiness and increase it.
But, as they started, the white man said, "You surely cannot be happier if you are brown. I don't know anyone who is so brown and still happy." In came some wonder drugs to help make the brown less brown and they journeyed along.
The brown man, now a little less brown, had no clothes. The white man gave him a fine silk shirt and he smiled graciously and wore it with pride. Each time the silk clad brown man would sit on the ground, his clothes would become dirty. He needed chairs and table, the white man postulated profoundly. So, they hacked down few mulberry trees and, with the expertise of the white man and his knowledge about carpentry they made beautiful tables and chairs. The last fruit from the mulberry trees were eaten sitting on the new chairs. They had never tasted better, the furniture was magical.
The sparrows were weird things the white man told the brown one, "Why would they not visit us now when we have all the comfort and riches!"
Undeterred by the weird sparrows' disappearance, the white man continued fearlessly to find more happiness for his brown friend. He met several happy people from around the world, carefully changed every piece of the brown man's life to bring him more happiness but, none of his efforts bore any fruit. The brown man was just one of those hard nuts to crack! The white man tirelessly made meaningful changes to the brown man's life but nothing seemed to work. The brown man just didn't want to give way to happiness.
After several attempts to change the brown man's life and make him a happy person like everyone else he knew, the white man started to get weary. The brown man's unhappy state was starting to get to him. The brown man's failure to become happy started eating into the white man's own happiness and he felt agitated.
"Why can't you just work harder towards the goal of happiness like everyone else?", he asked the brown man.
The brown man had no answer. He was sorry for letting his white friend down. More than anything else, he felt responsible for dragging his white friend into the well of unhappiness that he was in. He promised to try harder to be happy and do whatever it takes. Together they formulated a plan. A schedule was devised for the brown man to follow religiously every day till he becomes happy. Heavy sanctions were put in place - "No having fun till happiness is achieved", one of the rules said. The brown man knew how important happiness was so he carried out all the instructions. Once in a while a sparrow would come to their yard and they would drive it away realising very well how important the task at hand was and absolutely nothing should be allowed to distract them from getting to happiness.
After weeks of trying his best, the wise white man started to see the truth in the situation. "This brown man would never be happy!", he proclaimed. He went to his friends and told them how all his nobel efforts to bring happiness to the brown man's life have gone in vain. His friends sympathised with his condition and suggested he invest his energy and time in something more meaningful.
Before he left forever, the white man looked at the old, spiritless face of the brown man, looked around at the desolate yard that he lived at and said to himself, "How did I ever think I could turn the fortunes around for a man like this who choses to be unhappy"
They hugged each other and parted ways.
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