A traveller’s reflection on how happiness thrives amid India’s chaos — even without perfect roads or spotless metros — has struck a chord online. In his viral post, he compared the quiet order of Tokyo with the noisy warmth of Indian life, arguing that joy often lives where perfection doesn’t.
The user, who had recently returned from Japan, began his post with a confession that his opinion might not be popular. “I know this feels counterintuitive given bad roads, crazy traffic, crowded trains and long working hours. But at the risk of being hated for this opinion — let me give it a shot,” he wrote.
He described his visit to Tokyo earlier this year — a city that, by most measures, represents order and perfection. “It has every luxury imaginable of a first world country — yet you don’t see enough happy faces in metros or on the streets. In fact, everyone is almost always stressed out,” he said.
Japan, he explained, may have efficient trains, cheap food, and countless parks, but beneath the surface lies deep exhaustion. “People are just working like machines. They haven’t seen salary growth in decades, many are so lonely they haven’t had human interaction in months and years,” he added.
“That,” he said, “is the price of a ‘perfect society’. The cost of that ‘perfect society’ has been people just slogging it out without any hope or ambition.”
His post then turned homeward — to India — a place that may lack Tokyo’s order or infrastructure but seems to hold something more profound. “Even if you go through a chawl, you’ll find kids running around and playing, or aunties hanging out and having a laugh about something. Or senior citizen mandali chit chatting. People don’t tie their happiness to purely material well-being.”
He wrote that this unique ability to find joy amid everyday struggle has long fascinated outsiders. “Even people who don’t have much, find joy and happiness in their simple lives. Many of us may not be able to understand it because for most of us — this is the only way we have always lived.”
Quoting the Dalai Lama, he added, “Labourers who construct buildings and live in slums nearby never consider robbing or attacking the rich people who will occupy those homes. They are happy in their means and believe that if they provide well for their children, they will have a better life than them. And all Indians feel that upward mobility is possible and achievable.”
He ended his reflection on a simple thought: “Happiness is indeed a state of mind.”
The post struck a chord online, sparking a wave of emotional reactions. One user recalled meeting a French TV director who had spent a month in India. “He said he had never experienced such warmth, smiles and happiness amidst squalor and poverty,” the comment read.
Another added a sharper observation: “Guess that is what our politicians took advantage of, and year after year made and broke the same promises.”
A third user chimed in, “Well said. At least now, we should stop romanticizing poverty and struggle due to political graft and inefficiency. Life is a grind as it is. We don’t need our Netas & Babus to compound it.”
There were also personal anecdotes — one from a traveller stood out. “We went to Tokyo last year, and we took a bus from the airport. I was hungry so as soon as I sat, I opened a bhujiya packet. Suddenly the crackle sound of the packet made the entire bus look at me, and we realised that this much sound is also noise for them.”
For many, it served as a gentle reminder that joy doesn’t always need polished pavements or perfect systems. As one user summed it up: “Happiness ain’t got much to do with brand new pavement or fancy transit lines. It’s more about the warmth of folks connecting and finding joy right where they are — infrastructure or no infrastructure.”
