There was a time most East African high school and university students knew the words to Max Ehrmann’s 1920s poem Desiderata that ended with the words, “With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.” Well, March 20 – a day whose passing was mainly unheralded – is the International Day of Happiness.
We owe the day to Bhutan, whose King Jigme Singye Wangchuk in 1972 declared Gross National Happiness (GNH) as more important than Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the monetary measure of the total value of goods produced and services provided in a country during one year.
