The Pursuit of Happiness

After a long, bumpy, and noisy ride in an auto rickshaw, I finally reached my destination: a very poor neighborhood just outside the city of Jaipur, India. After walking past cows, pigs, monkeys, feces, garbage, and open toilets, I finally arrived at the Day Care Center where I was assigned.
The classroom was very small - about 3m². There were no windows and rat feces covered the floor. But that was all forgotten as soon as my eyes met theirs.
They were all looking eagerly at their new Didi, waiting for instructions. They were happy to see me and in the blink of an eye, I had about ten children around me, grabbing my hands and hair. They all wanted to touch me. I never felt so welcome.
The children ranged from one to nine years old. Although there were boys and girls, I could not distinguish them. Most of them had the same haircut - very short hair - and there was no such thing as boyish and girlish clothes. Their clothes were simply dirty and ripped.
All at once, they started to sing the “good morning song.” In that moment, my eyes were caught by the sweetest little girl I have ever seen. Her name was Kajal. I could not help but smile and she smiled back.
As soon as they finished singing, they sat down and looked at me. Although I had prepared for the class, for a few seconds I just looked at them in amazement. Abruptly, I grabbed the chalk and the class began.
At the end of the class, I asked my tutor if I could go with Kajal to meet her family. Kajal’s home was nearby. Her house was smaller than the classroom and it had only one room.
Her mother and one of her four sisters were at the house and they invited me in. I sat down on the ground stone, put my hand in the kitchen, my feet in the bedroom, and stared at that Indian family I just met. While I talked to Kajal’s mother, I witnessed the love and affection between Kajal and her little sister. They held each other’s hands and kissed each other’s faces; their giggling was infectious. After asking their mother a few questions about her husband and their lives, I told her that she should be proud of Kajal because she was a very sweet and happy little girl.
And then she answered me: “that’s because we are happy here.”
I looked around at her house - small, simple, and without any comfort, and that was the day I began to understand what happiness really is.