The pursuit of happyness

Let me start off with the movie that made a lasting impact on me last year. Its called - The pursuit of happyness. It tells the story of a struggling single father who later goes on to become an investment banker.Chris has a tough time trying to pay taxes and secure a job for himself even as his wife leaves him. Amidst all this he enrolls for a trainee program with a popular Broking firm which gives job to only one from the class of 20. He makes a little money for his meagre needs by selling a machine to doctors that gives a slightly darker image than an X-Ray. A vagrant on the street thinks it is a time machine which Chris uses to travel in the past. Chris is not amused. Nevertheless, when he is kicked out of his house by his landlord, he uses this illusion to sweet talk his 5 year old son into spending a night in a public toilet by saying, ' This is a cave and we are taking shelter from the dinasours outside.' You can only relate how the world is like a dinasour for the lesser mortal. Chris performs exceptionally well in his program and is awarded with the job of a stock broker at last. Thats when he says,' This part of my life is called happiness.'

The movie has moments that stays with you and lingers in your thoughts. When Chrish mutters to himself while watching smiling faces on a busy street, ' They all look so happy. Why cant I look like that? '. Then there is this scene where he is talking to his son the night after his wife leaves him ,' Don't let anybody tell you, you cant do it. Not even me. You got a dream, you got to protect it. Period!' as if more to himself than to his son.The part that got me thinking (again??) was when he wonders how Thomas Jefferson managed to put in the word pursuit before happiness in the declaration of independence. As if he knew it so very well that happiness is something that can only be pursued. One can never actually have it. Someday, I would love to think otherwise ...