Need for Happiness

We human beings are in search of happiness from time immemorial. Different religions and philosophers have deliberated on happiness. There have been long debates and discussions on the concept and definitions of happiness, the paths to happiness, and many other aspects of happiness.

In India, happiness has its origins, most probably in the Vedic age (c. 1500 – c. 500 BCE). There is a large volume of knowledge and literature on happiness from many revered people from various walks of life shared in multiple sources, including scriptures going back to the Vedic age (c. 1500 – c. 500 BCE). Not only ideas, philosophies, and literature but also various applications of these for the practice of happiness, such as compassion, meditation, and yoga, were also created and practised over a long time in this ancient Indian civilisation. Indeed, happiness and India have a very long association.

“Sarve bhavantu sukhinaha, sarve santu niramaya

Sarve bhadrani pasyantu, ma kaschid dukhabhaga bhavet.”

(May all be happy, may all be free from disease, May all perceive good and may not suffer from sorrow).
( Source: Based on India’s Puranic Wisdom)

Globally, in the last two decades, there is a lot of research on happiness from various aspects using scientific methods, including what makes people happy, how to be happy etc. Though there is a lot of rich literature on happiness, there is a need for more practice of happiness. Also, there are increasing levels of stress and mental health issues, particularly in cities. The pandemic of COVID-19 is also making people rethink various aspects of life, including happiness.

The primary purpose of humans is to be happy, as other purposes ultimately lead to happiness. Since happiness is so important, we cannot leave it to chance, and there is a need for a happiness strategy in our lives.

Who We Are

Honorary Chairman

Prof Rajesh K Pillania

Dr Rajesh K Pillania is the leading researcher and teacher on happiness in India, popularly called India’s Happiness Professor. He has written eleven books and reports on Happiness such as Happiness Strategy book (2019); Happiness Diary: My Experiments with Happiness (2020); India Happiness Report 2020, India Cities Happiness Report 2020, World Happiness 2021, World Happiness 2022 and India Happiness 2022. These works are the first of their kind in India. His work is endorsed by many industry stalwarts and global leading thinkers in happiness, including HH Dalai Lama, management legend Prof Philip Kotler and Marshall Goldsmith, the #1 Executive coach.

He is on the advisory board of many esteemed international research journals¸ professional bodies and conferences consisting of leading international academicians¸ industry leaders and policymakers. He is recognised for his extensive research, jointly ranked number one in average research productivity among management faculty (including IIMs and IITs) in India.

He has taught thousands of students and executives about happiness strategy. He is teaching a popular course Happiness Strategy in the PGPM program at MDI, Gurgaon. His teaching and training focus on adding value to the participants by explaining concepts in an innovatively simple and fun way focusing on the application of concepts using experiential learning. He is a prolific writer, a popular teacher, and a highly sought-after trainer on happiness, strategy and innovation. His research and academic experience include Panjab University, Chandigarh; the Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, College Park, USA; Harvard University, among others.

For more see www.pillania.org

Advisors

Prof. Ruut Veenhoven

Pioneer and World Authority on the Scientific Study of Happiness; Director, World Database of Happiness.

Prof Ruut Veenhoven (1942) studied sociology. He is also accredited in social psychology and social-sexology. Dr. Veenhoven is an emeritus professor of ‘social conditions for human happiness’ at Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands, where he is currently involved in the Erasmus Happiness Economics Research Organization. Dr. Veenhoven is also a special professor at North-West University in South Africa, where he is involved in the Opentia research program. He is director of the World Database of Happiness and a founding editor of the Journal of Happiness Studies.

Prof. Veenhoven’s research is mainly on ‘happiness’ in the sense of subjective enjoyment of life. One strand of his research is ‘happiness and public choice’. The purpose is to build an evidence basis for policies that aim at greater happiness for a greater number. Another research line is ‘happiness and private choice’, and the purpose is here to build an evidence base on which individuals can draw when faced with major life choices.

Professor Sir Cary Cooper, CBE

Leading Global Scholar in Occupational Health and Wellness research, and the 50th Anniversary Professor of Organizational Psychology and Health, Manchester Business School, University of Manchester.

Cary L. Cooper is the 50th Anniversary Professor of Organizational Psychology and Health at Manchester Business School, University of Manchester. He is a founding President of the British Academy of Management, President of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), former President of RELATE and President of the Institute of Welfare. He was the Founding Editor of the Journal of Organizational Behavior, former Editor of the scholarly journal Stress and Health and is the Editor-in-Chief of the Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Management, now in its’ 3rd Edition. He has been an advisor to the World Health Organisation, ILO, and EU in the field of occupational health and wellbeing, was Chair of the Global Agenda Council on Chronic Disease of the World Economic Forum (2009-2010) (then served for 5 years on the Global Agenda Council for mental health of the WEF) and was Chair of the Academy of Social Sciences 2009-2015. Professor Cooper is the Chair of the National Forum for Health & Wellbeing at Work (comprised of 40 global companies eg BP, Microsoft, NHS Executive, UK government, Rolls Royce, John Lewis Partnership, etc.) Professor Cooper is the author/editor of over 250 books in the field of occupational health psychology, workplace wellbeing, women at work and occupational stress. He was awarded the CBE by the Queen in for his contributions to occupational health; and in 2014 he was awarded a Knighthood for his contribution to the social sciences.

Padma Bhusan Jagdish N. Sheth

Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Business, Goizueta Business School, Emory University, Globally Renowned Scholar, and Marketing Legend.

Jagdish N. Sheth, Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Business, Goizueta Business School, Emory University. He is globally known for his scholarly contributions in consumer behavior, relationship marketing, competitive strategy, and geopolitical analysis. Over 50 years of experience in teaching and research at University of Southern California, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Columbia University, MIT, and Emory.

Dr. Sheth is a recipient of the 2020 Padma Bhushan Award for literature and education, one of the highest civilian awards given by the Government of India. He is a Fellow of the Academy of International Business (AIB); the Association of Consumer Research (ACR); the American Psychological Association (APA); and the American Marketing Association (AMA). He is a Distinguished Fellow of the Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) and the International Engineering Consortium. He is the recipient of all four top awards given by the American Marketing Association (AMA). Professor Sheth has been advisor to numerous corporations all over the world. He has authored or coauthored more than three hundred papers and numerous books.

Dr. Sheth is the Founder of Center for Telecommunications Management (CTM) at University of Southern California (USC), Founder and Chairman of India, China, and America (ICA) Institute which analyzes the trilateral relationship and its impact on geopolitics, security, trade, and investment, and the Founder and Chairman of the Academy of Indian Marketing (AIM) which supports research and scholarship among Indian scholars in marketing and management. He and his wife, Madhu Sheth, have established the Sheth Family Foundation to support several charities in India and in the United States and the Madhuri and Jagdish Sheth Foundation to support scholars and scholarship in the field of marketing. The Sheth Foundation supports the AMA-Sheth Foundation Doctoral Consortium, hosted annually by different universities.

Padma Bhushan Dr M. B. Athreya,

Independent Management Expert.
Recognized as one of the founders and pioneers of the Indian Management Movement; and Ex-Professor London Business School & Ex-Professor IIM- Calcutta.

Dr Athreya is recognised as one of the founders and pioneers of the Indian Management Movement, including Management Education, Research and Consulting. Since his return from the UK, in 1978, he has been available nationally to Corporates; National and State Governments; and NGO’s, as an independent resource person. He has been on several government Committees, advocating major reforms and liberalisation in the Indian economy, including Telecom; Banking; Aviation; and Civilian Nuclear Power. Dr Athreya was earlier Professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata; London Business School, England; and the Strathclyde Business School, Scotland. He holds a Doctorate in Business Administration from the Harvard Business School. Dr Athreya has been honoured with several awards. In 2014 he was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India. He has been a Role Model and Mentor for thousands of Indian Managers; Strategic Planners; HRD Professionals; and Consultants in the Corporate and Social sectors.

Professor Cassie Mogilner Holmes

Professor of Marketing and Behavioral Decision Making, UCLA’s Anderson School of Management; and a leading scholar in happiness research.

Cassie Mogilner Holmes is a Professor of Marketing and Behavioral Decision Making at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. She studies happiness, highlighting the role of time, and teaches a popular MBA course titled, “Applying the Science of Happiness to Life Design.” Professor Holmes’s research has been published in top-tier academic journals, and popular accounts of her work have been featured in such outlets as NPR, The Economist, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Scientific American. Professor Holmes was identified as a Best 40 Under 40 Business School Professor and was the recipient of multiple Early Career Awards. Before joining UCLA Anderson, Holmes was a tenured faculty member at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She earned her PhD in marketing from Stanford and her B.A. from Columbia as a psychology major.

Dr. Ashley Whillans

Harvard Business School, author of the Time Smart book and a leading scholar in the time, money and happiness research field.

Ashley Whillans is an assistant professor at Harvard Business School and a leading scholar in the time and happiness research field. She earned her PhD in social psychology from the University of British Columbia.

She was twice named a Rising Star of Behavioral Science by the Behavioral Science & Policy Association. In 2016 she cofounded a “nudge unit,” namely, the Department of Behavioral Science in the Policy, Innovation, and Engagement division of the British Columbia Public Service Agency. She is part of the Global Happiness Council and the Workplace and Well-Being Initiative at Harvard University.

She advises on workplace and well-being strategies for numerous nonprofit and for-profit partners. She has written about her research, which has appeared in numerous outlets, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the LA Times, CNN, BBC, The Atlantic, The Economist, and The Wall Street Journal.

Dr Dasho Karma Ura

Head, Centre for Bhutan and GNH Studies, the government multidisciplinary think tank in Thimphu, Bhutan.

Dasho Karma Ura (PhD) currently heads the Centre for Bhutan and Gross National Happiness (GNH) Studies, the government multidisciplinary think tank in Thimphu, Bhutan. He has published extensively on economic and social issues linked to happiness. He also paints and designs artefacts.

Richard Florida

One of the world’s leading urbanists; University Professor at University of Toronto’s School of Cities and Rotman School of Management; and, Founder of the Creative Class Group.

Richard Florida is one of the world’s leading urbanists.

He is a researcher and professor, serving as University Professor at University of Toronto’s School of Cities and Rotman School of Management, and a Distinguished Fellow at NYU’s Schack School of Real Estate

He is a writer and journalist, having penned several global bestsellers, including the award-winning The Rise of the Creative Class and his most recent book, The New Urban Crisis. He is co-founder of CityLab, the leading publication devoted to cities and urbanism.

He is an entrepreneur, as the founder of the Creative Class Group, which works closely with companies and governments worldwide.

Susan Huber Miller

Director, Academic & Continuing Education Programs, Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Susan Huber Miller is Director of Academic & Continuing Education Programs, Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Susan has been a member of the University of Wisconsin-Madison community for 20+ years. She joined the Center in fall 2019 and oversees all higher and continuing education initiatives, with the goal of bringing empirically validated strategies around wellbeing to the UW-Madison campus and beyond in the form of curricular, co-curricular and non-credit, online programs to benefit university students, the broader campus community and society at large. For her, wellbeing is a sense of inner calm and “grounded-ness” and having meaningful connections with the people around me.

Mrs. Noof Aljenibi

Director, Emirates Center for Happiness Research (ECHR), the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU).

Mrs. Noof Aljenibi is the Director of Emirates Center for Happiness Research (ECHR) at the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), the first research center of its kind in the middle east. Noof earned her Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania majoring in positive psychology. She worked closely with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government on various initiatives and projects to promote well-being under the National Program for Happiness and Well-being. Noof is also the chief of happiness and well-being at |(UAEU), She is also Dare to Lead Facilitator the Dr. Brene Brown institute. Noof runs several project in the UAE university to promote well-being she executed (Mattering at workplace as well as Well-being officers project).