be happy

Grandmother hummed a Carnatic raga while grinding spices, her fingers moving like a veena player's. My son asked why she smiled through arthritis. She whispered that Swami Paramarthananda once said happiness dwells within, untethered from circumstance. She never sought applause or recognition, yet neighbors gathered at her door, drawn by her radiance. Her joy wasn't performative—it bloomed from acceptance, from understanding life's deeper rhythms. That evening, listening to her devotional melodies, I realized true reward wasn't external validation but the resonance created when one person's contentment touches another's heart, binding generations through unspoken wisdom and song.