Happiness, unplugged

Indian mythologist and author Devdutt Pattanaik talks about his audiobook and how it will change the way we see happiness

- Sapna Sarfare

Listening to stories that change lives and the way you look at ways to get contentment should be the norm. Audible has come out with a new audiobook by renowned Indian mythologist, speaker and author Devdutt Pattanaik — Contentment: Heaven Is No Paradise.

Released in October, this thought-provoking audiobook by Pattanaik goes deep into the meaning of being truly content in a world of discontentment. He talks about the way myth, culture, science, and technology shape our concepts of happiness and success with comparisons to the Western ideas of individualism and the Indian worldview.

Devdutt Pattanaik speaks to The Free Press Journal about his latest audio offering on audiobook, what it offers and more.

Excerpts from the interview:

What is Contentment: Heaven Is No Paradise about?

The audiobook is about asking ourselves why the rich, powerful and famous never look happy, and why people seem so committed to dying discontented. It is a meditation on these ideas, on why human beings keep chasing happiness but rarely find it.

Nature is central to Chinese and Indian mythologies. Indian mythology additionally speaks of the human mind, which is missing in both Chinese and Western mythologies.

What made you consider writing this audiobook? What were the points that pushed you?