I am happy. Aren’t I? Just a two word question and the answer is more often than not vague and lost. This is the same question Juliet asks herself as she meets people at Ananda Village and thus begins the quest for happiness.
Finding Happiness is a documentary and yet it’s more like a trailer of a journey that one could get onto to seek the ‘truth’. The documentary is about a community called Ananda which was founded in 1968 by Swami Kriyananda who was a disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda. Ananda is based on the teachings of Paramhansa who apparently showed the path to people as to how to realize God in their daily lives as a tangible and a loving reality. This reality is brought to us on screen by Director Ted Nicolaou and the happiness tale is seen and shared through the eyes of the protagonist Juliet Palmer played by Elisabeth Rohm.
Juliet is a journalist in New York and is asked by her boss to share the story of Swami Kriyananda and Ananda with her readers and hence she must go to the Ananda Village in California. Of course, she is reluctant to take the ‘job’ (as she calls it) because she just can’t connect to covering anything even remotely religious or spiritual. She anyway gets on to a plane to witness the ‘truth’ herself.
I would certainly like to congratulate Ted for not dubbing any dialogues and for not getting an artist to act on behalf of any character at Ananda. The beauty and simplicity of Finding Happiness is the real people who serve at Ananda Village and they share their stories in a threadbare simulation manner.
Juliet first meets David Eby, who plays her guide in the movie and is also the music director for the documentary, at the airport who had come to pick her up on behalf of Ananda. Within minutes of interacting with David, Juliet knows that he is smart and intelligent and he knows what he is doing at Ananda. I specifically loved a scene where while on their way to the Ananda Village, David takes a halt near a stream and let Juliet immerse the calmness of the sound of the water. I, even though sitting in a theatre, felt so close to nature myself in that moment that it can’t be described in words.
The one and a half hour documentary involves Juliet meeting Swami Kriyananda and other people from the community who belong to different age groups and are even equally connected to the world outside of Ananda. When Juliet first meets Swami Kriyananda, she of course has millions of questions and after sharing a few words of wisdom Swami asks her to meet the people from the community as that should help her seek all the answers. Juliet is amazed and flabbergasted after learning the stories of how Ananda came into being; the struggles that people went through in the process and innumerous tales of people finding the truth and happiness.
In one particular scene, a resident at Ananda Village describes the death of a fellow community member and how the passing of that community member impacted others deeply. The resident shared that if one has to go like that in the end, what’s the purpose of life anyway if not seeking the truth. On Juliet’s last day at the Village, she met Swami Kriyananda again and sought his wisdom on how could she remain the person that she has become after staying at the Village for just a week. She asked Swami to bless her and that scene is just magnificent and larger than life.
Finding Happiness may seem to be something that’s just not practical for us because of several reasons and one of them being that we don’t feel connected to God. However, the life at Ananda is not about seeking God but finding the truth. As Swami Kriyananda himself said that finding truth could be possible even if one doesn’t believe in God. He concludes his blessing to Juliet with these simple yet absolutely profound words which had a magical effect on me ‘Don’t live to be unhappy, live to be happy’.
Ananda community has about 10 centres across the world with one in India itself in the state of Maharashtra. You have to see the documentary or the pictures of the Ananda Village to believe how beautiful the Village is with almost 1000 acres of land filled with green all around. It’s simply spectacular and breathtaking!
Finding Happiness has been acclaimed worldwide and has even gone to win international accolades such as being the finalist in the Moondance International Film Festival, winning the Award of Excellence at Peace, Inspiration, Equality Film Festival among several others.
My Recommendation – you must and you have to watch Finding Happiness to understand what we really miss as we go by living our mundane lives. You never know, it could probably change your life. I would refrain from giving any rating to this one for the simple fact that I am not capable enough to judge something so beautiful. Go and find Happiness J
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