Freedom & Happiness

For an English Oratorical... 3 mins



Sudha Murty, a unique Indian author with great clarity in her thoughts. “How I Taught My Grandmother to Read and other stories” is a collection of shorts stories, available in the market from 2004, pretty old release but has been in the print for a long time now. This collection has many quotes to mention and the topic of today is indeed one of the specials.

“Doing what you like is freedom; Liking what you do is happiness.”

Let’s split it up. Two parts: Freedom & Happiness.

“Freedom is the oxygen to the soul.” Says Moshe Dayan, an Israeli leader and politician. He has rightly stated the importance and value of freedom to oneself. Freedom is all we want when we are under pressure and succumb to the external force. It was what Indian fighters and leaders fought for and got after a struggle for about 100+ years. While we feel that word, it emphasizes and establishes the “endless expanse”. “Freeeeeee” - that is the feeling of “Doing what you like”.

Now, about happiness, what is it actually?

Let’s see what science has in response to that question. In scientific literature, happiness is referred to as hedonia the presence of positive emotions and the absence of negative emotions. We get the “high” when we are happy and the things that are responsible for this are biochemical processes and the release of so-called happiness hormones. The most popular ones are endorphins, dopamine and serotonin.

As per the dictionary, the term happiness is used in the context of mental or emotional states, including positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. When do you actually feel happy?, feel Contented? - It is, when we are in sync with what we are doing; when we are intact with what we do; when we like what we do. That is the feeling of “Liking what you do”.


“Doing what you like” – Emphasis is on the individual.
“Liking what you do” – Emphasis is on the feeling.

“Doing what you like” – It is the signal received from the brain.
“Liking what you do” – It is the yell or whisper from the heart.

“Doing what you like” – is loud.
“Liking what you do” – is soft.

“Doing what you like” – is outward.
“Liking what you do” – is inward.


They are not two sides of the same coin. They are indeed two different genres of the mind. But they can never be replaced by any other and are never mutually exclusive too. They co-exist and are indeed like the 2 parts of the brain. It might look like we could survive with one, but this thought itself is absurd and could be because of the lack of the other.

Like the sea and the sky, these 2 genres "Freedom & Happiness" meet only at one point - the "special horizon" which is "Peace", which is the impeccably ideal place for life to evolve.



Always, be free and happy! Be at peace with yourself to feel it all..!