There is a slice of sunshine, that I always carry with me. In rain, in tempest, in despair, in adversity, in success and failure.

 There were few more tips to learn when an illness in the family recently took me out of the State, and into the Dettol washed corridors of Kasturba Hospital, Manipal. It came from unexpected sources, starting from the liftman, to a young woman awaiting her biopsy report for suspected breast cancer.

 Though I believe disease is the greatest leveler – it strikes you irrespective of rich or poor, age or youth, creed or class – you could still choose to be happy by exercising this right as a way of life. I watched the liftman as he took his share of human load, up and down the floors monotonously. Despite years of watching human suffering walk in and out of his tiny space, cripples and the incurables, the devastated and the dejected, the countless faces indifferent of his presence or service, just a man who pushes the worn out buttons and then goes home to his dal and rice.

I was one of those faces too getting into his elevator one hot noon, muscles creased with worry, when almost instinctively I raised my eyes and caught his amused smile. Dismissing him off as being cheeky, he was still smiling as I stepped out and hurried to find my way amidst the horde of humanity. I turned around to watch my little girl shaking his hand and sharing their smiles spontaneously. Soon, they were waving each other `hello’ and `goodbye,’ as we made our way up and down his territory often. I found myself smiling too at people hunched over their ailing loved ones, the women cleaning the bins and the floors, the nurses going about their rounds mechanically, patients sitting on chairs that has seen better days, young, junior doctors trying to look serious while giving you the look-over…there was happiness to be found even in the midst of suffering and death. I found a glow suffusing my own burden. By the time I had left, I had found friends in people I would otherwise never make the time to get to know. Wanting to be happy was a choice.

In the same way I know that happiness has nothing to do with:

Money: I had met the poor and the rich. There’s no difference between the levels of cash. Besides enabling you to buy the basic or luxuries, in death everybody was equal. As in happiness too.

Beauty: Being beautiful or non-descript does not make you more or less happy in the levels of happiness you feel.

Youth: Do kids have it better? Do old people have it good? Your priorities, needs and goals determine the levels of satisfaction.

Brains: If you’re so smart, then how come you aren’t happy?

The Weather: The grass is always green on the other side? Wrong. If rain makes you happy, a patch of steady, humid sunshine may make your neighbour miserable.

I tell you, go out there and smile. At least you won’t age faster!

A lesson in perseverance

I want to share a story with you, which has been patiently lying in wait in the memory banks of my computer. It survived the trashcan -- out of the hundred forwards that test the patience of my mailbox -- for its simplicity of thought. Long after, in a moment of silence, I found myself reflecting upon its wisdom. The tale could very well be the saga of my life or yours, the man begging on the street, the woman in pain lying on a hospital bed with a incurable disease, the aimless socialite drinking herself silly at every party and going home to an empty nest, or the scientist working painstakingly to create a nuclear bomb. If it moves you too, I would think the column has served its purpose.

The story goes thus: Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, "Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see my beauty."

Then the second tree said, "Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength and my hull."

Finally, the third tree said, "I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me."

After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, "This looks like a strong tree. I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter"......and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.

At the second tree a woodsman said, "This looks like a strong tree, I should be able to sell it to the shipyard." The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.

When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was very frightened because he knew that if they cut him down, his dreams would not come true. One of the woodsmen said, "I don't need anything special from my tree so I'll take this one," and he cut it down.

When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for.

The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings and queens had come to an end.

The third tree was cut into large pieces and left alone in the dark.

The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams. Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box, which was made from the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time.

Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn't think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and he stood and said "Peace" and the storm stopped. At this moment, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings.

Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to realise that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.

The moral of this story?

When things don't seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you.